Senior prison officer Leigh Henry (Nina Sosanya) appears to be a changed woman as Screw season 2 lands on Channel 4. Having previously been very closed-off at work, she's now attempting to present a much warmer, more collaborative version of herself — which takes her fellow prison officers by surprise!
Will this new approach to her job lead to a much more harmonious atmosphere on C Wing? It's possible, but with a rather green new inmate (Lee Ingleby) trying to find his feet in prison and a potent rumor circulating among the prisoners that puts everybody on edge, the staff have still got their work cut out trying to prevent chaos.
We caught up with Nina to find out more about her character's journey in the prison drama's latest run...
Nina Sosanya interview for Screw
How do we find Leigh at the start of this season?
"Leigh was left at a particular moment in that plotline in the last series where she ended up revealing quite a lot of herself to Rose [played by Jamie-Lee O'Donnell], and Leigh and Rose had sort of become allies in that way. When the second series opens, it's only six weeks later and Leigh is trying to put everything she's learnt from that experience into practice, and she's also trying to hold on to her wing, as ever. That's always the struggle she's got, and how to do that in the best way, but she's also realised she has to involve her team. She's invested in them, but she has to let them know that, that's where she's sort of fallen down in the past. So there's a lot of emphasis on her trying to learn how to trust other folk with her personal life and her work life — but of course if you trust somebody, you are vulnerable. And I think at Leigh's core, she is very protective of her own self, so in the second series there's a lot to do with whether that's going to bite her or not."
Leigh was obviously deeply affected by the murder of Toby Phillips in the first season — can you tell us a bit more about how that's changed her interactions with her team?
"She's trying to come across as a bit more of a living human, as opposed to the slight cyborg version of herself that she thought was the correct way to go about things. In terms of Toby's murder, I think Leigh has realised a lot of those things wouldn't have played out had she behaved slightly differently and opened up about certain things, because she was keeping all the secrets, all the time, from all the people. The fact that she had to become so enmeshed with Rose was really beyond her control, but she's becoming very attached to Rose in terms of being her mentor as well — which is something that comes very well to Leigh, she's a great nurturer, that's why she puts so much energy and thought into running her wing. But she's realising that she hasn't done that to the rest of the team, so she's coming up with slightly clumsy ways of trying to initiate more human interaction, like calling them by their first names. I feel like she's got some things out of a book, or off an app: 'How to communicate with your colleagues on a deeper basis'!"
And how did you feel stepping back onto the prison set when you went back to filming?
"It was a very odd feeling, because it was literally like we hadn't left! I think one of the differences with doing the series, in terms of us as a cast, is the ability to have a sort of shorthand for our characters now that we know who they are. We have a foundation for our relationships, and I think that's really reflected in the warmth that comes through in the first couple of episodes — which butts up against some really dark and tense moodiness, so that was really nice. And it's just excellent to be with a group of people that you really, really want to be around — it's not rare, but it's pretty precious!"
Do you think Leigh really has changed as a person?
"I think something has fundamentally changed in her, but whether that is going to serve her well or not is one of the things we discover throughout the series — whether trusting somebody with your secrets, voluntarily or not, puts you potentially at a disadvantage. But as we see in the opening of the first episode, she's still holding something back in order to — who knows, to have some power maybe? So when I say there's warmth in the second series, it's more that the familiarity between the characters pops up out of this quite dark and intense tone, and when it does show itself, it feels very welcome, like you've really earned it. I think Leigh is trying to be a warmer person — I'm not sure how far she succeeds!"
You film the series in Glasgow — did you enjoy working there?
"Yes — what's the slogan, 'people make Glasgow'? It's really true, it just feels like a home from home now. Also, we saw Glasgow in winter this time, whereas before we saw it in summer. The summer in Glasgow was outstanding because of the amount of light, but it was a bit discombobulating because I couldn't close my eyes until half past eleven, I could still see the sun! This was entirely the opposite, it was always dark, but you just see the city in a completely different light, and we got to do more things and see more of it. I can't pretend I've seen or experienced the whole of Glasgow, but the bits I saw were blimmin' lovely!"
You spend long days filming on that prison set, for months at a time — do you and the other cast members ever get a bit of cabin fever?
"Yes, but that sort of helps — and you appreciate the fact that you are able to leave!"
- The second season of Screw begins on Wednesday, August 30 at 9 pm on Channel 4. All episodes will be available to stream on Channel 4 from August 30
