What
attracted you to playing Annie in this drama?
The drama was brilliantly
written – I think Toby Whithouse is a fantastic writer. I think,
because he's an actor, he writes it how you say it. This one was just
a lovely job to have.
The other thing
that enticed me to it was because I knew that Russell Tovey was doing
it. I'm a big fan of his and we're good friends now.
I trusted the casting
director, so I knew that because she has good taste, it was going to
be a great piece. I came to the meeting thinking it was wonderful and
left thinking it was even more wonderful.
What's
Annie like and how does she take to the boys moving into her home?
Annie is a young
ghost-next-door. I decided that she might come from Barnsley –
so I gave her that accent. She's a sweet, yet pushy, young woman who
was engaged to be married. She died under suspicious circumstances in
her own flat that she shared with her boyfriend.
The writer created
a back story for each of our characters, so we knew where each of us
was coming from.
Annie's doing her
best to stay sane in a house that she can't leave. She has been in the
garden and the house, but can't leave the house, so she's become agoraphobic.
She's really pleased
to meet George and Mitchell, because they can see her. She's been ignored
for so long.
I think we've all
felt that we can be invisible, when you've stood in a bar next to a
really gorgeous woman who's been served first or when you're with two
friends who fancy each other and you feel a bit like a third wheel.
That's how Annie has felt since she died.
How
does Annie get on with George and Mitchell?
Annie and George
have quite a tense relationship initially, because George has been so
excited about getting a flat with Mitchell so that they can have a normal
life; he's disappointed by Annie spoiling it all. She's got to tread
carefully, as she's the spare wheel in the relationship but she's ballsy
enough not to completely lay flat like a doormat though.
Mitchell is so accommodating,
wise and old; I think she becomes emotionally attached to him in a romantic
way and starts to admire him.
Did
you do any research to get into character?
Annie had only lived
with her condition for a short while, whereas the guys had grown and
adapted to their conditions. It took her a week to realise exactly what
was going on after she died and because she's not met any other ghosts,
she doesn't quite know what the protocol of being a ghost is.
In terms of research,
I decided to focus less on ghosts and more on agoraphobia and what it
might feel like to never want to go out.
Annie's become so
detached from what's happening socially outside of her own space and
all the energy she has to exist, is within that space. Outside of that
space, she feels powerless.
When she meets George
and Mitchell, they give her a new lease of life and she ventures outside
the house for the first time. She is getting more powerful with their
friendship.
Do
you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had a ghostly experience?
I believe in Annie.
I think I do believe in the "other". I think if I didn't believe
in the "other" I wouldn't be afraid of things that go bump
in the night. I wouldn't say that I could specifically say what I did
and didn't believe in. I've never had a ghostly experience though.
Are
you a fan of ghost films? If so, what are your favourites?
When I
was little, I used to love Ghostbusters, it was my favourite
film. I used to watch it with my dad on Betamax. I haven't watched it
for ages though. It's so long ago since I've seen Ghost too;
I think it was too grown up for me at the time.
I was always
so scared of horror films; they scared me so much – even if they
were bad films. I entered into it all too much imaginatively; I'd go
to bed and be terrified of what might happen. Care Bears the
movie was scary to me!
I have this morbid
fascination with scary films, like rollercoasters, I love scaring myself
– it's just how much you can escape. A film can take you to a
different space and time and if you're able to enter into that, it captures
you; it can be a terrifying experience.
I think
this drama has a good balance of being really funny, dramatic and emotionally
involving – as well as creepy.
Being
Human
What is Being Human?
Russell Tovey
interview - George the werewolf
Guy Flanagan
interview - Mitchell the vampire
Adrian Lester - Herrick
Phoo Action
Phoo Action features
