View from my sofa: Ashley Jensen
The Shetland star turned her back on comedy to solve crime but is missing her inner clown
Ray Burmiston
- Amy Raphael
This article was first published in Radio Times magazine in November 2024.
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What’s the view from your sofa?
The television, a house full of dog hair and a muddy floor that makes me think, “I really need to hoover…” My dogs moult a lot.
What have you enjoyed watching lately?
I loved Colin from Accounts. The first season was just so fresh, but my God, the second season escalated, and the final few episodes were beautiful. I say I don’t like reality TV, but as I get older, I find myself enjoying Celebrity SAS, The Voice and Gogglebox. That’s my comfort television.
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Who controls the remote in your house?
My teenage son because I don’t know which buttons to press. I knew where I was when there were four channels.
Do you have any TV turn-offs?
The bickering in The Real Housewives is a wee bit mind-numbing. I find shows like Married at First Sight and Naked Attraction a bit dirty, a bit shameful. I mean, what is your mother thinking?
When did you realise you wanted to act?
Forever! When I was wee, I used to pretend I was Terry Wogan and record impressions of Miss Piggy, Kermit and Frank Spencer for an imaginary radio show. Maybe because I was an only child. I always assumed I would make it, which is strange because I came from Annan, a small farming town in the south west of Scotland, no one in my family was an actor and no touring theatres visited.
DI Ruth Calder (Ashley Jensen) and DI Tosh McIntosh (Alison O'Donnell) in Shetland. BBC/ITV Studios/Jamie Simpson
What route did you take into acting?
I joined the National Youth Theatre in London at about 16 and my mum thought it would put me off, but it made me want to act even more. I was lucky to get into Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh to study drama and I started right at the bottom, doing touring theatre in a van. I certainly didn’t have a meteoric rise, which is a good thing because it can be hard to deal with sudden success when you’re young.
Are there better roles for older women these days?
I think so. We’re almost the last taboo. I’m 55 and I’m keen on being an older woman who looks like an older woman. There’s a responsibility for older women to say, “This is what I look like.” I’m not judging anyone else but hope I can be buried with the face I was born with.
How did you feel when you were offered the part of DI Ruth Calder in Shetland?
I’m known predominantly for comedy – Extras, Ugly Betty, Nativity and After Life put me on the map – but I always enjoy serious drama like Mayflies. The Shetland call came out of the blue and it was a no-brainer for me. I’m sure there are still plenty of die-hard DI Perez fans out there [the character played by her predecessor Douglas Henshall], but I came to the show fresh as I didn’t watch it until I was about to be in it!
Had you been to Shetland before?
Never. The landscape is so breathtaking it shut me up on occasion, which is pretty rare. It was tough filming the new season because it was so bloody cold – I’d go back to my house each day and be on my own because I was so tired. I didn’t know who the killer was for the first three episodes, so I kept waking up in the night, trying to solve the crime. But at the weekend we had cast and crew nights out, which was very bonding.
The opening scene of the new series is brilliant, especially when Calder says, “Working for the Met isn’t anything to shout about these days, is it?”
It’s nice to play someone who doesn’t mince her words because I’m not like that. She’s a loner whereas I’m a people person. If I met Calder in the pub, I might be a wee bit scared of her, but I’d want her to be my friend. I’d want her on my side.
Will you be doing another season?
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Yes! The viewing figures for my first season were strong, so two further series were commissioned, nine and ten, which was very reassuring. But I’ll probably want to do some comedy next, just to find my clown again.
Authors
Amy Raphael
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