VICKY MCCLURE AND GEMMA CHAN TALK ABOUT THEIR NEW FEMALE-LED DRAMA
‘LINE OF DUTY’ ACTRESS VICKY MCCLURE TELLS OK! ABOUT A NEW FEMALE-LED SERIES
For Vicky Mcclure, sometimes it’s the simple things that are the most profound. So it’s no wonder the actress jumped at the chance to work with Bafta-nominated writer and director Dominic Savage on his improvised anthology, I Am…. The female-led series follows the lives of three different women, each with their own episode. The first, I Am Nicola, reunites Vicky with her good friend and This Is England 90 co-star Perry Fitzpatrick as Adam. I Am Hannah stars Gemma
Chan (see facing page), while Samantha Morton takes the lead in I Am Kirsty. In Vicky’s episode, she plays hairdresser Nicola, who is growing tired of the monotonous routine. Their characters’ coercive relationship soon unfolds, and Vicky explains: ‘There are elements of this story that
I’ve experienced, whether that be in my own past or in a friend’s relationship.’
Here, the 36 year old, who is engaged to writer and actor Jonny Owen, talks going off script, having a supportive partner and perfecting her cut and blow dry…
Tell us about I Am Nicola...
It’s very much a relationshipbased drama and given that it’s fully improvised, it’s very raw. The basis of this story is to highlight the elements of control that can occur in a relationship. Adam wants control over Nicola. He wants to control their surroundings and then it gets even deeper; he wants control over her appearance. It doesn’t sound very extreme but when, like Nicola, you’re living and breathing it, it’s a very suffocating environment. What was your inspiration to explore this territory? There are elements of this story that I’ve experienced, whether that be in my own past or in a friend’s relationship. I’m in a relationship now where I’m completely supported to do exactly what it is I want to do, with lots of love at the same time. But yes, I have been in those situations where that’s not been the case. We’ve dramatised it obviously: I don’t go to the gym – Nicola’s a real gym bunny. There are lots of different elements that ensure that it’s not a true-to-life story but there are lots of moments in this that I feel are relatable. I Am Nicola is about simple stuff and that’s what I really enjoy watching.
And you co-star alongside your friend Perry Fitzpatrick… I’ve known Perry since I was 11. We went to the TV workshop together in Nottingham so we’ve known each other for 25 years – showing my age! I know Perry can improvise very well and this story is so intense, to have somebody that’s a good friend, that I know and trust – and he knows me – was important. So when Dominic told me about this project I said I’d like him to meet Perry. Me and Perry had always hoped to work together again and we hadn’t really until this point. How would you describe Dominic’s working style? It’s so different from conventional drama. Dominic is always going to search for the truth and he’s always going to want to test the water, so the way that we work is that there is no script so it’s very free and it’s unpredictable. He’ll jump in and throw things into the scene that I or Perry are not privy to, to induce a reaction, as opposed to ‘acting’. We will have an idea of what the scene will be but it can often turn out to be something completely different.
Were there any scenes that stood out to you?
There was a scene when Perry was very emotional and he was sort of begging and pleading and it was very difficult to watch because I could tell Perry had completely gone there. And Perry’s my mate so while I was in the moment with him and just trying to get through the scene, it was horrible to watch him in so much pain. So we had a nice cup of tea after that one! The hairdressing scenes are funny because they’re quite lighthearted and I’m pretending to be a hairdresser and thoroughly enjoying it. We were working in a real hairdresser’s and we had real people sitting there wanting a blow-dry and, you know, I’m like learning on the job.