Nottingham-born actress Vicky McClure returns to our TV screens on Sunday for new thriller Trigger Point. Lynette Pinchess catches up with the actress about playing a bomb disposal expert and on a lighter note what she thinks of suggestions she's Mushroom on the Masked Singer.
"The bravery is quite insane" says actress Vicky McClure, talking about the real-life bomb disposal experts who risk their lives walking towards potential death.
The BAFTA-winning star got a glimpse into the profession when filming her latest role in new ITV drama Trigger Point which kicks off this Sunday, January 23.
In the tense six-part series Wollaton-born Vicky's character Lana Washington and Joel Nutkins (played by Adrian Lester) work against the clock as a terrorist bombing campaign threatens London.
"It was the most physically demanding job I've done to date for sure," says Vicky, whose wardrobe for some scenes was challenging.
"There's a massive bomb suit we wear in one of the episodes and we chose to use the actual real deal - it sounds like I'm being heroic and it's really not that - I'm an actress I can take it off in between takes.
"It weighs about the same as I do - it's a very impressive piece of kit but also it was a choice we made to make sure it looks as authentic as possible. You can't but help to have complete admiration for these people who do this job for real."
With her hair scrapped back and free of mascara and blusher, she still spent plenty of time in the make-up chair in preparation for the dust and debris in the aftermath of explosions.
"There was lots they needed to do whenever there was an explosion, the reaction to all that and blood. The whole show is set in a heatwave and as much as we were filming in London in the summer, not every day was boiling hot so there was lots of things the make-up team were in demand for to make sure they got it right.
"They were the most incredible team I've worked with. I was very happy to be sat in the chair with them but it was nice not to have the usual type of make-up every day," said Vicky, who was so impressed by the make-up team's Red Miller and Emma Humphrey that she brought them to Nottingham for her next project Without Sin, which has just finished filming at locations around the city.
Trigger Point delves into both the professional and personal life of Lana, who Vicky says, is poles apart from her role as DI Kate Fleming in Line of Duty.
"I think because Jed's name (producer Jed Mercurio) is attached to the show people very quickly assume that he wrote it and he didn't.
"In terms of the writing it feels very different to what Jed writes with Line of Duty - and if the character felt too close to Kate I would have been a bit more inclined to review whether or not to do the job because I want to play different people especially as it's in a similar world to Line of Duty.
"I wanted to make sure I could create a brand new character - the line I'm going with at the moment is Lana and Kate are very different but I think they'd get on very well.
"Both are very dedicated to their job, strong professional women, and are also flawed as everybody is."
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live on the phone from London where she's had a whirlwind of TV and press interviews ahead of the first episode, Vicky will be returning to her home in Nottingham in time to watch the first episode.
Describing filming as "cinematic", she says: "I feel really excited because all the crew and all the cast and everybody involved in that show from day one to the day we finished, worked really hard so I'm really proud of everybody's efforts and everyone's talents are going to be showcased on screen.
"Then it's wait and see if the audience react to it in the way we hope they will and that's something you can never predict so there's always that nervous energy in the air but mostly I'm excited.
"We all worked really hard to try and make a unique show and it's a subject that isn't covered very much especially on TV so I hope people delve into a brand new world, a brand new character and enjoy that.
"I'll make sure I'm home on Sunday with Jonny (Owen, her partner) and watch it in the comfort of my Nottingham pad.
"Social media is such a big part of people's reaction to the show and I am really interested in people's feelings and thoughts so I'm sure I'll be on social media at some point having a look."
Line of Duty began in 2012 and ran to six series, ending last year. Is there potential for Trigger Point to run and run?
"I don't know. With new shows you put it out to the audience and see what they think of it. A second series hasn't been commissioned so it's a case of put this one out first and see what's what," she says.
Having spent a chunk of her career in gritty dramas is she ready for something different, maybe comedy?
She says: "In my career over the last few years things like Line of Duty and Trigger Point are what people absolutely love at the minute. It's something the audience takes to very well and something that I myself enjoy watching.
"Don't get me wrong, I've done a lot of hard-hitting drama recently so to do something lighter is very appealing because it's a lot to take on other characters' dark times but I don't want to do things just because people haven't seen me do something. I'll only ever do stuff I think I can do a good job on really. We'll just see what comes."
It brings her to Build Your Own Films, the new production company set up by herself and partner Jonny, which has just completed working on Without Sin, a new ITV drama in which Vicky plays a grieving mother.
She says there's lots of projects in the pipeline and scope for documentaries, drama, comedy and "lots of different things".
One thing Vicky can rule out at the moment... she is not on the Masked Singer.
Panellist Davina McCall threw Vicky's name into the mix in the first episode of the new series after Mushroom performed Björk's It's Oh So Quiet.
She says: "I heard about that. I'm not on it - I don't know if that spoils it but I can't lie, I struggle with that. You can take me out of the equation.
"I'd never claim to be a singer but I do enjoy singing," adds Vicky, whose love of belting out a tune was inspired by the Dementia Choir which she formed for the BBC documentary in 2019.
"The Dementia Choir is the one thing that me inspired to feel less conscious about singing out loud. When I listen to them do what they do I am so inspired.
"We don't all have to sound like Adele to feel the effect music has and singing has for people. I sing more and more and I'm less and less bothered about whether or not it's decent."
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