“The Flatshare” stars Jessica Brown Findlay and Anthony Welsh got to do all their own stunts in their new rom-com TV series.
The stunts in question? Writing Post-it notes, which sometimes required multiple takes: “I got so many sent back being like, ‘It’s great, but that’s not how you spell that word,’” Brown Findlay laughed.
Based on the bestselling book by Beth O’Leary that was translated into more than 25 languages, “The Flatshare” revolves around two strangers who live in the same apartment — one at night and the other in the day. They communicate through the sticky notes. It begins airing on Paramount Plus on Dec. 1.
“We did all our own handwriting,” Brown Findlay explained.
Welsh added that they had to write out about five of each note note.
“Jessie knows this now, but I was in like secret competition with her because every day the props department would be like, ‘You’ve got like a batch to do today.’ And I’m like, ‘How many we got?’" he described. "‘We got 40.’ ‘OK, 40 — damn. How many has Jessie done?’ ‘She’s done all of them.’”
The television series follows the relationship that develops between Leon and Tiffany, played by Welsh ("Fleabag," “The Great”) and Brown Findlay ("Downton Abbey," “Brave New World”).
Most of the show is set in the London apartment that the characters share, which had panels that could be removed to enable filming in the small space.
As soon as Tiffany moves in, she takes over the space, Welsh said.
“It felt like Tiff’s flat from day one. And I was like, ‘OK Peter (Cattaneo, director), tell me what’s mine and what’s hers,’ and like, 85% of this stuff is Tiffany’s," he said. "Leon lives a very, like, simple, minimalist life almost, but she brings a lot of color into the set.”
Brown Findlay said she's “had loads of flatmates and like, mad flats.”
“I rented a flat once because there was Harry Potter wallpaper in the loo. I just failed to see any other, like, everything else about the flat was terrible and I just ignored all of it,” she said.
She admitted worrying she “was like the weird flatmate who wouldn’t come out of their room a lot” in her past flatsharing arrangements.
“Sometimes you’re just like, ‘I just need some space’ or like taking really long baths and stuff, and then they’re like, ‘You’ve used all the hot water,’” she said. "Yeah, I don’t know if I was always great.”
But for their own flatsharing arrangement, the lead actors — who hadn’t met before — were delighted to work together.
“We kind of both fangirled each other,” Brown Findlay said.
