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'I've struggled with playing an everyday person – I don't think I know how to be normal in real life'

'I've struggled with playing an everyday person – I don't think I know how to be normal in real life'

Katherine Parkinson is nominated for Supporting Actress for Rivals

Katherine Parkinson posing in a champagne coloured blouse and staring upwards.

Rachel Louise Brown, Set Design: Penny Mills, Stylist: Rachel Fanconi, Sponsor: BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises, Shoot Location: Sea Containers London, Lancôme MUA team: Sophie Finlay, Holly Regan and Lauren Freeman, Schwarzkopf Professional hairstyling team: Philipp Haug, Nikos Dika, Jessika Anderson and Liberty Hunter

Gareth McLean

Add the Bafta Television Awards and Rivals to your watchlist

Katherine Parkinson’s breakout role was in The IT Crowd, which earned her two Bafta nominations and one win. She’s gone on to appear in Humans, Inside No.9 and Defending the Guilty. She’s nominated for her performance as the lovelorn wife turned adorable adulteress, Lizzie, in Rivals.

You won a Bafta for Female Comedy Performance in 2014. How was that night?

I was pregnant and I had a cold so my abiding memory is feeling awful. Not that being pregnant isn’t great, but it meant I couldn’t have any medication for the cold. And it was bittersweet anyway because The IT Crowd was ending. Whereas we start filming the second series of Rivals the day after the Baftas – so that feels like riding a wave.

Katherine Parkinson standing on a ladder in a ball gown and holding her dress outwards.

Katherine Parkinson. Photography: Rachel Louise Brown, Set Design: Penny Mills, Stylist: Rachel Fanconi, Sponsor: BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises, Shoot Location: Sea Containers London, Lancôme MUA team: Sophie Finlay, Holly Regan and Lauren Freeman, Schwarzkopf Professional hairstyling team: Philipp Haug, Nikos Dika, Jessika Anderson and Liberty Hunter

Lizzie is described as the moral heart of the show, yet she embarks on an affair…

Good people have affairs, too. And in her case, her husband is an absolute penis.

Rivals looks like fun to make. Is it?

It is, and I have just read the first episode of the new series and it’s terrific. Dominic Treadwell-Collins [Rivals’ showrunner] leads with such integrity, joy and class and he sets the tone. The show is about how the TV world doesn’t have to be full of arseholes – we’re in a fun industry that’s supposed to bring joy to people – Dominic is one of the few who really lives that.

Lizzie Vereker holding a picnic basket and standing in a large green field

Katherine Parkinson stars in Rivals. Disney Plus

According to research, only 14 per cent of primetime drama is written by women. Do you notice a difference between a script written by a man and one written by a woman?

As an actor, I have found that working with Laura Wade [a co-writer on Rivals] – who is the same age as me and the same gender – there is often a shared sensibility that can be lacking in some scripts written by some men. That we don’t have equal representation in the people telling stories doesn’t make sense to me.

How have you avoided being typecast?

I’d love to say it’s planned, but no. People with a comedic bent are often drawn to extreme characters who vividly differ from each other. The times I’ve struggled were playing an everyday person, because I don’t think I know how to be normal in real life.

Authors

A bearded Gareth McLean sits before a dark green backgrounded, looking at the camera and smiling gently

Gareth McLean

Gareth McLean has been writing about television for nearly 30 years. As a critic, he's reviewed thousands of programmes. As a feature writer, he's interviewed hundreds of people, from Liza Minnelli to Jimmy Savile. He has also written for TV.

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