{"id":8915,"date":"2021-12-19T10:00:52","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T09:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1537547"},"modified":"2021-12-19T10:18:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T09:18:10","slug":"jessica-plummer-on-the-girl-before-i-joked-when-i-left-eastenders-i-wanted-to-do-something-light-hearted","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/jessica-plummer-on-the-girl-before-i-joked-when-i-left-eastenders-i-wanted-to-do-something-light-hearted\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Plummer on The Girl Before: \u2018I joked when I left EastEnders I wanted to do something light-hearted\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 19 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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When Jessica Plummer exited EastEnders after a traumatic domestic abuse storyline in 2020, her first thought was that she\u2019d like her next role to be something a little less heavy. \u201cI actually joked when I left EastEnders that I wanted to do a comedy or something light-hearted,\u201d she tells RadioTimes.com<\/a>. \u201cBut I\u2019ve completely ignored that!\u201d<\/p>\n

The reality is that her first post-Chantelle role is every bit as dark as her time on Albert Square. She plays one of the leads in The Girl Before<\/a>, a new four-part BBC One thriller that will air on consecutive nights this week, which sees a traumatised woman fall in love with an unusual minimalist house \u2013 leading to a rather sinister situation. Although it might not tick the light-hearted box, Plummer says that \u201cthere was no way I was letting that slip through my fingertips\u201d \u2013 and she adds that the opportunity to continue to address heavy themes in her work is one she relishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sound like a broken record, but I just found it such an honour to be able to speak to an audience as large as the EastEnders following,\u201d she explains, on being involved in the aforementioned storyline, which saw Chantelle murdered by her abusive husband Gray Atkins.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it was tricky and challenging as an actor, we wanted to show that sadly sometimes that does happen in real life \u2013 and being able to do that and potentially help people out of their real-life situations made it all worth it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s similar with being Emma Matthews in The Girl Before,\u201d she adds. \u201cI just think if it can speak to somebody maybe in that situation to do something differently or do something similar or whatever the case may be, it just makes it all worth it. Even if you can\u2019t necessarily directly relate to the specific trauma, there are always ways that everybody can relate to somebody going through a hard time in one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Girl Before is adapted by JP Delaney from his bestselling novel of the same name, albeit with a couple of alterations from the source material. And Plummer says that while she originally intended to read the book in preparation for the role, she eventually came to the conclusion that it made more sense to view the novel and the series as two separate things \u2013 although she says she\u2019ll finally sit down to read the book after the show has aired.<\/p>\n

But her preparation for the role did involve a lot of research around responses to trauma, and she explains how production company 42 set up a meeting with a therapist so that she could get a deeper understanding of her character\u2019s state of mind. \u201cThey got me in contact with a therapist that Emma Matthews would have probably been going to see,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd just speaking about things that she might have felt or conversations that she might be having with her therapist, just trying to bring it to life.\u201d<\/p>\n