I’M HAVING THE CRIME OF MY LIFE
From Shetland to Bletchley Circle, star proves she’s queen of mystery
A life of crime has turned out to be very rewarding for Julie Graham.
The actress is returning to screens in the new series of Shetland this week after yet another crime-cracking job.
She plays straight-talking procurator fiscal Rhona Kelly in the BBC police drama and she’s been filming new US show Queens Of Mystery as well.
All that on top of appearing as a post-World War II sleuth in the return of ITV’s The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco last year.
Julie, 53, who grew up in Irvine, said: “Crime? People love it. That’s what they want to watch. If you think of any really successful show at the moment, it always has an element of some kind of criminal activity or puzzle or mystery. I think it’s part of our human condition – we love all that stuff. I love a good detective drama or novel.”
Her busy schedule is also a clue as to how the television industry itself is changing. The mother of two is getting good, strong roles when many actresses her age have struggled to get work.
She is aware of how fortunate she is, having enjoyed a stellar career which includes At Home With The Braithwaites, William And Mary and Benidorm as well as films like Nuns On The Run.
She said: “I am very lucky and a lot of actresses my age are not because there just aren’t the parts. It’s about
opportunity apart from anything else. Especially after the age of 40, scripts just stop coming and, even if they do, there’s one or two roles. Whereas, if you go down any internet cast list, it is still a 70/30 split between men and women in favour of men.
“But that is changing. There is much more diverse casting so, for example, if you get a script and it says ‘Chief Inspector’, they are doing gender blind casting because that could easily be a man or woman.
“I’m glad I’m around when that’s changing, especial ly for me because I am in my 50s now.
“I just want to play, to represent, women l i ke me but very often women of my age are shoved into these terrible roles where they don’t have their own stories. They are either someone’s mother or grandmother. “So it’s quite exciting to be around at a time when things are changing. Writers are starting to write for older women and it’s not so much of an issue any more.” Julie believes she got a taste of the other side of the gender equation when the original Bletchley Circle series – which also starred Rachael Stirling – was cancelled after two series in 2014. She said: “I was very fond of the show and I was quite upset when it was cancelled, for lots of reasons.
“Without going into it too much, I think there was an element of it being a femaleled show and they had another female- led show coming up so they couldn’t have two. Thankfully, it is changing now with the whole # MeToo movement and al l these campaigns.
“It hahas been proven time and time againaga that people want to see these showssh and see women in these roles anda not just as foils for strong male characters.
“WeW were quite disappointed whenwh it was cancelled but then that’stha the nature of the beast. You justjus have to move on.”
TheTh series was resurrected for a spin-spi off show last year but, if thingsthin are heading in the right direction,direct it’s an ongoing struggle. Julie believesb there is much to be done. SheSh said: “Commissioners
Writers are starting write to for older women. It’s not so much of an issue any more
need to commission stories about women and stories about the female experience. “Reese Witherspoon, for instance, couldn’t get anything made so she did it herself. “You have to become a producer or a director. You have to push those boundaries because you have to knock the dinosaurs out of the way. There needs to be another Ice Age to get rid of them all.” She could send them to Shetland, where temperatures d ropped dur ing f ilming of the new series. But Julie, who lives in Brighton with daughters Edie, 14, a nd C yd , 13 , managed to avoid it as she didn’t go to the islands when the rest of the cast – led by Douglas Henshal l as DI Jimmy Perez – were filming on location. She said: “I never get t o go to Shetland any more. You never see me outdoors. I am always in the police station.” It’s all part of the job as procurator fiscal Kelly, who will be thrown by a case which rocks the islands and tackles a pressing international issue. The new series, which is on BBC1 on Tuesday at 9pm, begins with a severed hand being washed up on a beach, which leads to the discovery of other body parts. It ultimately leads Perez to an investigation into human trafficking. Julie said: “I think it is very shocking for everyone because it’s a whole new world. In so many ways, the world is a better place because there is more communication but, in other ways, we are vulnerable to outside influences.
“Shetland is obviously an easy target, in a way, for traffickers because there’s not a lot of policing, not a lot controls. I think that’s what’s great about the storyline – it is something which could happen and maybe is happening for all we know. It’s a bigger picture than a local problem, it’s a global problem.”
The show’s recent investigations have taken a detour from the books by Ann Cleeves and widened their scope to include Glasgow and Norway.
Moving beyond the confines of the island only helps Shetland’s popularity for Julie, as she discovered when f i lming The Bletchley Circle in Canada.
She said: “I did a job in Canada and people were like, ‘ Oh my God, I love Shetland’. The Canadians were mad for it.”
She’s also delighted that Shetland has won approval from its toughest audience.
Julie said : “Scottish people love it and Scottish people don’t like anything, especially if it comes out of Scotland. They’re hyper- critical and so they should be – it’s a good taste thing.”
Starring with Henshall, whom she worked with on The Big Man and Silent Scream and who is a friend off screen, is a treat, although they are at loggerheads in the new series.
She added: “I love having conflict with Dougie – I get to shout at him, which I always enjoy.”