In Unforgivable, a new 90-minute drama by Jimmy McGovern, Anna Friel never once smiles. She plays Anna Mitchell, whose brother – released from prison as the drama begins – sexually assaulted her preteen younger son. The trauma inflicted is clear: almost throughout, the boy won’t utter a word beyond “yes” and “no”.
“We worked on the basis that her anger had to be suppressed,” Friel says, speaking from her home in Windsor. “She’s lost her husband, her mother has died, she’s lost a brother who she absolutely loved. And most of all, she’s lost trust. Trust is so hard to come by, it takes years and years, and when that’s broken, it sets off a domino effect. So while there’s a certain amount of paranoia in Anna’s mood, she has got to hold it together.”
