The Durrells ACTRESS KEELEY HAWES ON THE SADNESS OF SAYING GOODBYE
‘THE DURRELLS’ STAR KEELEY HAWES TALKS ANIMALS, GREEK DANCING AND THE SADNESS OF SAYING GOODBYE
Just when you think Keeley Hawes’ career has peaked, she brings out another blockbuster TV hit. In 2014, her role in crime drama Line Of Duty got people talking. Then 2016 brought us the terrifying thriller The Missing. And last year it was Bodyguard – the most watched drama on British television since records began in 2002, with Keeley playing the Home Secretary and Richard Madden as her bodyguard.
Now Keeley’s back on familiar ground with the fourth and final series of ITV’S The Durrells, a family drama based on conservationist and naturalist Gerald Durrell’s autobiographical books, set on the island of Corfu.
After three years on our screens, Keeley’s Durrell family has become very dear to her and she found filming the final scenes incredibly difficult.
‘That was very sad. It was quite tricky to hold that together,’ she says. ‘We all had a round of applause afterwards and lots of hugs.’
While matriarch Louisa Durrell is a mother of four, away from the lens, 43-year-old Keeley has a 19-year-old son called Myles from her first marriage and shares two children, Maggie, 14 and Ralph, 12, with actor Matthew Macfadyen. She and Matthew met on the set of BBC One’s Spooks, and Keeley once revealed: ‘Spooks will always stand out. We all had such fun on that, all of us. And I met my husband.’
As an actress who has made her name on the small screen, Keeley is no doubt thrilled that TV dramas are finally having a ‘moment’. ‘I’m really pleased I’ve stuck with TV all the time. I didn’t cheat on it too much with film and I feel very smug about that,’ she has said.
As Keeley returns to the Greek sunshine for the final series of The Durrells, she opens up about the emotional final scenes and why she hopes the real life Durrells would be proud…
Where do we find the family at the start of the fourth series?
We’ve reached the spring of 1939 and the storm clouds have gathered around them. The war is on the horizon. But it’s still the sunny Durrells that we love.
The last series ended with Louisa and Spiro [played by Alexis Georgoulis] revealing their feelings for each other. How is their relationship now? Louisa is trying to get over Spiro. She is trying to be grown up and get on with her life. It’s a matter of self-preservation for both of them to keep apart. It’s a tantalising storyline.
Has it been emotional seeing the younger cast members grow up over the course of the series? I’m 5ft 10in and Milo [Parker, who plays Keeley’s son Gerry Durrell] is now almost as tall as me. There’s an inch or so in it, but there wasn’t much difference by the end of filming. He’s also got a lower voice. He’s certainly grown up. But Milo was always very mature. Gerry also gets long trousers later in the series. Louisa is not ready for that. I recognise that as a parent myself. It’s just awful how fast they grow up.
Tell us about working with animals including a lemur and an owl on this series?
It’s always a lot of fun with the animals. We have a barn owl called Ulysses, who was my favourite, and a pink sheep. It felt slightly different this year because we knew it was the end. You appreciated having the animals there probably more than we ever have done.
There is a darker tone to this series with the Second World War looming…
Louisa has lived through one war and has no interest in living through another one. She has four children, including sons who would be called up to fight, so she does stick her head in the sand.
But there’s still a lot of fun to be had including some Greek dancing?
It was quite nerve racking, quite tricky. Trickier than it looks – but good fun.
How will you look back on the final series?
I think that it is the strongest of the four series. I hope people love watching the episodes as much as we loved making them. We feel we’ve done the Durrells proud and we hope other people do too.
Was it emotional filming the final scenes? It was very sad. It was quite tricky to hold that together. We all had a round of applause afterwards and had lots of hugs.
Do you think it’s a fitting conclusion to The Durrells?
I’m so pleased we were able to tell the story and take it through to its natural end. It feels like the right thing to have done. Not only selfishly for us but also because it’s such a brilliant story for the viewers – and a very satisfying end. It feels like we’ve done them proud. It’s a lovely ending.
‘THE DURRELLS’ RETURNS TO ITV ON SUNDAY 7 APRIL AT 8PM
‘It’s such a brilliant story for the viewers – and a very satisfying end’