Connie Nielsen has described her upcoming Channel 4 thriller Close To Me as a “coming of age” story for older female viewers, with a focus on the “transformation” menopausal women go through.
Based on the book of the same name by Amanda Reynolds, the drama follows Jo (Nielsen), a woman in late middle-age who suffers a head injury, before waking up in hospital with no memory of the past year. At her side is her husband, Rob (Doctor Who‘s Christopher Eccleston), who seeks to shield his wife by keeping secrets about some of the events that she can’t yet remember.
Danish actress Nielsen, who played the Queen of the Amazons in Wonder Woman and its sequel, said it was “really, really important” for the six-part show to focus not only on the effects of the accident Jo suffered, but also menopause itself.
“What was important to me here was to speak to the kind of experience that you have never seen on TV; I’ve never seen a story about a woman going through menopause,” Nielson explained, in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
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“It was really, really important to me, over and over again, that we show the experiences of [her] going through hot flashes, and sexual difficulties, or sleeping difficulties – all these different things on top of her accident.”
She continued: “For me, the more we start talking about that experience, and showing that experience, the sooner women will have the dignity of being seen. And that they receive the proper support and care, but also respect for dealing with extraordinarily daunting physical aspects that you try to travel with for 10 years of your life. It’s sort of a coming of age story as well. It is a transformation that you go through. And as a chrysalis – you see that happening to Jo as well, coming out on the other end.”
Later in the interview, she added: “It’s my hope that when people – when women especially are watching this, they experience a sensation of being seen.”
On the show’s appeal, Christopher Eccleston said: “This show had a lovely reversal of the usual, far too familiar, sensitive, caring female taking a supportive role to a male as they wrestle with existential dilemmas. This was very refreshing.”
Speaking about his character, Eccleston described Rob as “an estate agent in late middle age who has been married to Jo for a considerable amount of time. He realises that his role is to try and aid his life partner in a physical and emotional recovery, but also support her going through menopause”.
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