{"id":21236,"date":"2022-09-01T17:18:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T15:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1700286"},"modified":"2022-09-01T17:51:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T15:51:19","slug":"holliday-grainger-i-seem-to-have-only-become-tabloid-interesting-since-i-had-babies","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/holliday-grainger-i-seem-to-have-only-become-tabloid-interesting-since-i-had-babies\/","title":{"rendered":"Holliday Grainger: \u201cI seem to have only become tabloid interesting since I had babies\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Abby Robinson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 01 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Holliday Grainger has not long stepped off set when we sit down for a chat. Her latest project is arguably her most exciting to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NDA I\u2019ve had to sign,\u201d she says of Mickey7, an upcoming sci-fi feature from Oscar-winner Bong Joon-ho (Parasite, Okja, Snowpiercer). <\/span>The cast is dynamite \u2013 <\/span>Robert Pattinson, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie and Steven Yeun \u2013 and worlds away from the single episode of Casualty she appeared in back in 2000, or Yorkshire-set ITV drama Where the Heart Is, which was one of her more substantial earlier roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat you even know [about Mickey7] means that I should probably kill you,\u201d she laughs. \u201cAll I can say is I didn\u2019t even have a hard copy version of the script.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like everyone who has worked with the South Korean director and enjoyed his singular brand of filmmaking, Grainger can\u2019t speak highly enough of him: \u201cI projected [this]. I wanted to work with someone amazing that I respected, that every day on set would feel like a learning curve. He is the most prepared and efficient director I\u2019ve ever worked with. He makes it look really easy. He is a bit of a genius.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s as much as she can say so we move swiftly on to The Capture<\/a>, which recently returned to the BBC for its second outing. Grainger is once again leading the charge as Rachel Carey, a shrewd, driven detective who isn\u2019t afraid to ruffle a few feathers if it means getting the job done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played characters who are much younger than myself for so many years,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like it took me a while to grow up on-screen. But Carey certainly feels like one of the most mature and with gravitas characters that I\u2019ve played. I feel like a lot of characters have been leading up to this grown-up version.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Holliday Grainger as Rachel Carey in The Capture. Heyday Films\/Laurence Cendrowicz<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption> Heyday films\/Laurence Cendrowicz<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

In The Capture\u2019s sophomore season, Carey is swept up in a fresh deepfake conspiracy that threatens UK national security. All fingers point to the Chinese government but by the end of the second episode, the invisible assassins and digital\u00a0<\/span>doppelg\u00e4ngers look to be the work of another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot to digest \u2013 it\u2019s blink-and-you-miss-it stuff \u2013 which Grainger is acutely aware of.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just challenging emotionally,\u201d she admits. \u201c<\/span>Ben Chanan\u2019s script is so intricate that Carey\u2019s role within the piece, and my job as an actor, is to hold the plot and translate it and lead the audience through it. And I do feel the importance of that when I\u2019m on set, so in a way this job does feel more pressured than other parts that I\u2019ve had. It\u2019s not just turn up to work and do it. I feel responsible for the clarity of the plot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Carey that we meet in the latest episodes is, in many ways, the woman we were first introduced to. But there has been a shift following the injustice that saw soldier Shaun Emery convicted of a crime he didn\u2019t commit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe goes on a massive transformation throughout season 2,\u201d says Grainger. \u201cIn season 1 she had a slightly ballsy confidence, but here she\u2019s certainly more anxious and paranoid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think the mistrust that she has, the fact that she fears for her own safety, she\u2019s [always been] incredibly smart but she\u2019s now learning how to be manipulative. Her intelligence is not just clear-cut, black and white, for-the-good anymore. And with that her choices become more complex and interesting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Holliday Grainger as Rachel Carey in The Capture. Heyday Films\/Laurence Cendrowicz<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Carey\u2019s commitment to exposing the CCTV manipulation technology that was instrumental in pinning the blame on Emery brings that \u201cmanipulation\u201d into play. The detective is building a dossier of incriminating evidence<\/a> against Correction, its nickname in the series, which is easier said than done considering she\u2019s being watched at all times, even in her own home.<\/p>\n

As a woman in the public eye, does Grainger relate to that feeling of being observed?<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, I feel that hasn\u2019t entered my world,\u201d she says. \u201c<\/span>I very rarely get recognised unless something\u2019s just come out. And I\u2019m so unaware of people recognising me unless they come and speak to me. Anytime that I have found out I\u2019ve been papped, I only ever find out afterwards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the news of her pregnancy and the subsequent arrival of her twins last year, Grainger has noticed an uptick in how much attention she receives from certain media outlets: \u201cThe bizarre thing is I seem to have only become tabloid interesting since I had babies. It\u2019s like people aren\u2019t really interested in your career as an actor, they\u2019re just interested in your family life, which is kind of depressing really.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia in The Borgias. Jonathan Hession\/CBS\/Showtime<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

That said, Grainger is happy to field the inevitable questions about what it\u2019s like being a working mother. The topic has become something of a no-go zone in recent years, with a spate of comment pieces online attesting to the exasperation some women feel when everything in their life is brought back to being a parent.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not an issue for Grainger, and she\u2019d like to see more men asked about how they balance their responsibilities as caregivers with what\u2019s required from them in their careers:<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople <\/span>should ask, \u2018What\u2019s it like being a working father?\u2019 as well. <\/span>These are questions that both my partner [Star Trek: Picard\u2019s Harry Treadaway] and I are dealing with because it\u2019s so new to us. We\u2019re both learning how to be a working mum and a working father, so those questions are actually really relevant in my own mind at the moment, because that is my world. I honestly don\u2019t mind engaging with them because I feel like they\u2019re not engaged with enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When you consider how little practical support there is for so many parents, from a lack of affordable childcare to inflexible employers, she has a point. It\u2019s a long-standing issue, and one that disproportionately impacts women. <\/span>But it\u2019s not enough to just talk about it. That conversation should be a catalyst for positive change, otherwise it\u2019s just words.<\/p>\n

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Holliday Grainger as Bridget Watson Scott in Patrick Melrose. Justin Downing\/Sky<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

You won\u2019t find Grainger retweeting Guardian op-eds about why it isn\u2019t anti-feminist to talk about parenting while promoting your work because she\u2019s not on social media. That would have been somewhat radical several years ago, but many of us are now re-evaluating our relationships with the cost of being ~ online <\/span>~ and what we might gain from muting those apps, or removing them from our lives altogether.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But for Grainger it\u2019s not born out of the need to keep her life as her own, but how she perceives herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally I just find it really cringe, like tongue-tightening embarrassing, when something personal about my life [is known], or even a quote of mine makes it into public knowledge,\u201d she explains. \u201cI\u2019m not not on social media to keep my private life private, but because I can\u2019t stand having the idea of my private life and my own views known to my wider circle of friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn a weird way if I read interviews and I\u2019m like, \u2018I didn\u2019t say that, you\u2019ve completely misquoted me,\u2019 I actually prefer it. I much prefer being completely misquoted and misrepresented because it doesn\u2019t feel as exposing. When you read an interview that\u2019s really close to yourself, you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh my God. Oh, God. I didn\u2019t say that? Oh, cringe!\u2019 My toes hurt from cringing so much.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wanting to spare Grainger the discomfort of talking about herself any longer, we move swiftly onto<\/span> Strike, another BBC crime drama which has built up a loyal and enthusiastic following since it first aired back in 2017.<\/p>\n

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Holliday Grainger as Robin Ellacott in Strike.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Her character Robin, who entered the frame as an office-based assistant for private investigator Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke), but swiftly demonstrated her nose for solving crime, has a \u201cnewfound independence for the first time\u201d in season 5 as she wades through an acrimonious divorce.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like finally<\/em>, go and leave [her ex] Matthew behind,\u201d she adds. \u201cShe\u2019s matured as a person.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Grainger stops herself and chuckles: \u201cMatured as a person. She\u2019s not going to mature as a fox, is she?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Does she think Rachel and Robin would hit it off if their paths crossed?<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I reckon they would get on eventually, but it\u2019d be a slow burn,\u201d she muses. \u201cIf they did get on, they\u2019d be best mates, but I think it might take a while.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Grainger pauses for thought: \u201cIt depends on how<\/em> they met. I<\/span>f they got off on the right foot professionally, I think they\u2019d both respect each other, and a friendship would grow. Whereas if they disagreed, or they wanted something from the other one that they weren\u2019t giving, they\u2019d be worst enemies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If both of them make it out of their respective capers unscathed, which isn\u2019t guaranteed, some Correction-esque technology could engineer that.<\/p>

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Read more Big RT Interviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n