Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh on Wanderlust
Why Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh are hoping their new drama will get people talking…
Wanderlust Tuesday / BBC1 / 9Pm
Australian movie star Toni Collette stands in a spacious kitchen with a glass of wine in her hand, sharing a joke with actor Steven Mackintosh while the director resets the scene.
TV Times is in Manchester on the set of Wanderlust, an original and steamy BBC1 drama that’s set to start conversations in living rooms – and bedrooms – all over Britain.
It was going to take a special project to tempt Oscar-nominated Toni, whose big-screen hits include Muriel’s Wedding, The Sixth Sense and Little Miss Sunshine, to make her first appearance on British TV, and Wanderlust is certainly that…
The funny and honest six-parter, co-produced by Netflix, deals with mid-life attitudes to sex, intimacy and desire, as it follows therapist Joy and her husband Alan taking a bold new approach to try to bring the spark back to their relationship.
During a break in filming, Toni, 45, and Steven, 51, tell us more…
What drew you to Wanderlust? Toni: I think it’s the best writing I’ve ever worked with and one of the best jobs of my career.
Nick Payne, who created the series, is a genius. It’s truthful and has a serious funny bone too. I knew I would just die if I didn’t get to do this. But the best thing is there are no heroes and villains – it’s just about real life, where people get things wrong sometimes.
Steven: It’s a story many couples will relate to. My wife asked if we improvised bits, but Nick writes every ‘um’ and ‘er’ in there. Those meandering sentences feel so real.
How do we find Joy and Alan at the start of the series?
Toni: Joy is recovering from a very serious bicycle accident that’s made her reassess her life. She adores Alan, but has felt unsatisfied with their sex life for some time and is brave enough to tell him that she wants to try a different approach. It seems unconventional, but who made up these rules anyway? Steven: Everything is fairly mapped out in Alan’s life, which he probably quite likes, but Joy thinks it might be time to shake up that order. There’s no question that they love each other, and while he’s reluctant to face up to their problems at first, he’s willing to try something new to save what they have.
What was it like doing your first sex scene together?
Steven: It was really early on in the shoot. We were doing a sex scene in the car – and broke the seat! We didn’t know each other very well, but we watched it back a few days ago and it’s good – funny, clumsy and real. It was a very spontaneous moment for our characters.
Did you have any reservations about doing so many sex scenes? Toni: Not at all – it’s part of life, and it’s nice for it to be out in the open. I got quite used to it by the end!
Do you think the series will get people talking?
Toni: I think there will definitely be couples watching it who are sitting there thinking, ‘That’s us!’ So it might be uncomfortable viewing for some, but I don’t know if that’s a bad thing. My biggest dream is to be on Gogglebox, because watching other people watching it would be amazing!
Wanderlust is PREVIEWED on PAGES 60-61
My biggest dream is that Wanderlust is on Gogglebox! Toni collette