'People started to call us Abba'
A strong bond lightened the mood for the show's stars
ITV
- Laura Craik
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Can I start by saying how much I hate Miles? Congratulations on creating such an unlikeable character!
Great — job well done!
Miles is extremely controlling, isn’t he?
Definitely. The coercive control element was something we wanted to handle delicately. Jess [Brown Findlay, who plays Lucy, his wife] and I spoke about that a lot. We played siblings in [2022 drama] Life after Life, so already knew each other, which really helped. There are some dark moments between us, so it was important to me that she was safe and happy. We trusted each other.
But as we say in Glasgow, he has “all the gear and nae idea”. Everything is a tactic to undermine and emasculate, all done with a political smile on the face.
How did you come to be cast?
James Norton and I were in the same year at drama school, so we’ve known each other for ages, and had always wanted to find something to work on together. When he sent me the script, it was a no brainer.
Was there any discussion around you keeping your accent?
Kate [Hewitt, director] was keen I did. Usually if I’m getting to be Scottish, I’m speaking Shakespearean words, so it felt unusual to play a Scottish character with contemporary language. Without that extra layer, I could think about the psychology of the character straightaway. Kate wanted to back-foot people, which was quite a genius stroke, as the Scots accent is known to be warm, self-effacing and instil trust.
Were there any light moments in filming such a heavy show?
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Sometimes the heaviest hits are the times you have the most laughs. Being trapped in Cornwall for four months together, socially, it was actually one of the happiest jobs of my life. People at work started to call us Abba, because of how we look, so when the locals invited us to a Halloween party, we went as Abba… Some of us may have turned up to work the next day still dressed as Abba.
Authors
Laura Craik
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