Zahra Ahmadi
Zahra Ahmadi plays DS Esther Williams
BBC/Red Planet Pictures/Joss Barratt
- Caroline Frost
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Unlike many of your colleagues on Beyond Paradise you grew up in Plymouth and are a local. How do you spend your downtime?
When I started working, the dream was to travel, but the older you get, the more you want to be at home in your bed, and I get to do that. The cast and crew socialise a lot as well, and the buck falls to me to recommend places. There are pictures of me on Mothecombe beach as a child, and last year we filmed on that same beach, so my life’s come full circle.
With the show’s success, has it become harder to film locally?
The first year people were intrigued and Kris Marshall is easy to spot, so there was a smattering of curious people. Now it’s like performing a stage show while we’re filming. We have to play to a live audience.
What’s in store for Esther in series three?
We see a lot more of Esther the woman and her relationship with her daughter Zoe (played by Melina Sinadinou). Esther is a mix of two people I know, and they’re both mothers, but quite different, so I take a bit from each of them.
How has Beyond Paradise changed your life?
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It’s a great role in a massive show, but just as important to me is the quality of life. It couldn’t have come at a better time with things going on in my personal life, and it’s brought me huge joy, plus a group of friends I’ll have for life.
Authors
Caroline Frost
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