Staged stars Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg
Leading ladies Anna Lundberg and Georgia Tennant on co-starring with their partners in lockdown
WEDNESDAY / BBC1 / 10.45PM & 11PM (N IRELAND, 11.15PM & 11.30PM) /
EPS 3 & 4 of 6 / COMEDY
Working with your other half can be fraught, and throwing in the extra pressures of lockdown could be a recipe for disaster.
But not for Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg, who, during an exclusive interview with TV Times, tell us they are loving playing heightened versions of themselves in BBC1’S comedy Staged which follows Georgia’s husband David Tennant and Anna’s partner Michael Sheen as they rehearse a play via video calls.
Here, Doctor Who star Georgia, 35, and Swedish-born Anna, 26, making her TV debut, reveal why filming in their own homes has been a blessing…
Have you enjoyed working with Michael and David?
ANNA: The nerves kicked in for me at first but then you’re just talking to your other half and his friend who happen to be amazing actors. Plus it’s been precious having this time with Michael and our baby girl Lyra [who is eight months old]. GEORGIA: I feel lucky. David was supposed to be filming in South Africa, so to have him trapped in the house unexpectedly is amazing. He’s seen our baby [eight-month-old daughter Birdie, the youngest of their five children] growing up.
How have you kept your little ones from making surprise cameos?! GEORGIA: We’ve had some moments! There were baby monitors going off and I couldn’t make one rehearsal because we had a tantruming four-year-old.
ANNA: It was challenging. We had Lyra off camera next to us. I look like I’m never breathing because I’m expecting her to burst into the wonderful animalistic screech she’s just discovered!
Were you worried about showing your homes on TV?
ANNA: For us, it was straightforward because Michael decided to just stick to one corner of the kitchen with the laptop.
GEORGIA: Michael’s sensible! I’m normally incredibly private but I wanted to represent the chaos of being in quarantine with five children.
How close are your characters to the real you?
ANNA: They’ve made me smarter than I am!
GEORGIA: Simon Evans [the writer] assumed I was nicer than I am! I have a tendency to sarcasm and never let anyone take themselves too seriously, especially my husband, so I put that in. One scene had David and I doing yoga and I said, ‘Could I be eating cake and watching yoga on Youtube instead?’ Then he got who
I was.
I HOPE IT MAKES PEOPLE GO, ‘I’VE GOT AN IPHONE, LET’S SEE WHAT I COULD DO’
GEORGIA TENNANT
Do Michael and David bicker in real life like they do in the show?! GEORGIA: They probably do now! ANNA: Simon has really captured the chemistry between them. But Michael is definitely not as intimidating really!
GEORGIA: And David is less pathetic! He can’t spell backwards like David in the show can either.
Have you both become mates too? GEORGIA: Yes, it’s been really nice making a new friend in Anna because we have a lot in common. ANNA: The first time we met was at the premiere of Good Omens [Amazon Prime Video’s fantasy drama in which David and Michael starred] so now we’ve got to know each other and it’s lovely.
Do you think lockdown has been good for people’s creativity? ANNA: Definitely. People were already starting to make their own content, so it’s cool that actors like Michael and David are doing it because it shows what’s possible. GEORGIA: Yes,
I hope it makes people go, ‘I’ve got an iphone, let’s see what I could do.’
What’s next for you both? GEORGIA: Well, my character in this is writing a book. And I’ve rabbited on for years about writing one, so this might be the nudge I needed.
ANNA: I’ve got into gardening in lockdown so I’m just excited about visiting a garden centre!