Anna Friel Talks About New BBC Drama Unforgiveable

How Abuse Changes People’s Lives

One of the stars of new BBC drama Unforgiveable Anna Friel talks about her role in it…

Please could you tell us about your character, Anna.

Her character traits are fiercely protective, she’s somewhat stubborn, clean-living, and very, very hard, working. She’s holding together a broken family that has been devastated by sexual abuse. This event has wreaked havoc on the entire family unit and dynamic. Her marriage is over, her brother’s in prison, and her mother’s just died. She financially supports her two sons single-handedly who she loves very much. Her son, Tom, hasn’t spoken since he’s been abused. He will only answer with yes and no.

I’m at an age where I’m constantly playing a plethora of mothers, which is so fascinating and interesting being a mother myself and seeing the different aspects and different types of mothering. The most important job we’ll have to do is being a mother. Anna is on the brink and she’s coping the best she can. We never get to see her fight her corner, she doesn’t play victim and say: “I’ve lost my husband, I’ve lost my mum.” She doesn’t do that. She just makes it very clear that you’re never going to be forgiven, you’ve destroyed everything. I think she’s just disgusted.

What is Unforgivable about?

With the drama, you want to get an even balance of how abuse affects both the abuser and the victim. We’ve got a show that is quintessentially about redemption and forgiveness. When we meet Anna, we are confronted with a character who has made a firm stance that she will never forgive Joe. Is it right or wrong of her to not forgive him? We’ve got different opinions from different characters because the father is in the same mindset as Anna at the beginning – and she loves her dad very, very much, they have a very close bond, but will this always be the case? She’s taking on the opinion of someone who would say there is absolutely no forgiveness to what Joe has done. He crossed a line that will never, ever be forgiven. There will be audience members who will take Anna’s stance, and there’ll be other people who say, oh, come on, there’s room for redemption, a lesson has been learned, he will never do that again. That’s what Jimmy does, that’s why he’s one of my favourite writers – rather than signalling what people should do, he opens the space for these types of conversations.

You’ve worked with Jimmy several times before, how was it reuniting with him for this drama?

This is the third time I’ve worked with Jimmy and I have nothing but admiration and respect. There’s never a wasted word in the script. Every single word is important and matters and is used with impact and power. When I read the script, I was like “Oh God, I don’t know how I feel, is she being too hard on Joe? Should there be forgiveness?” You look at it from all aspects, especially after finding out what’s happened to him in court. Her character doesn’t want to listen to it and doesn’t really believe him. Hopefully it allows the audience to put themselves in the character’s shoes and ask themselves what they would do. That’s the art of a very clever writer. It becomes a talking piece. Especially because all of his dramas are always very much grounded and cemented in reality. Jimmy’s world is always a tangible and believable world that a lot of us can relate to. The drama asks big questions we’re asking an audience to follow because, as an actress, it’s complex. I think that that’s a form of genius, the smartest people I know have the best questions. You’re not just talking about something superficial.

Could you talk about the ripple effect Joe’s actions have on Anna and her family?

One event has a domino effect that impacts everyone in that family dynamic, friends and neighbourhood. It’s the knock-on effect one action can have on not just one human being. From Anna’s side of the story and the kids, it’s the fact that she can’t get the help for her son that’s needed. There’s a line she says to Joe: “It’s fine for you. You’ve been having therapy galore, every kind of help. But my son hasn’t been able to get any and he’s the victim.” She’s having to do that herself, having to fight the battle for her son, rather than the authorities doing it.

Did you do any research for the role?

I’m in the group of actors that believe you just keep reading the scripts again and again and again and again. There were quite a lot of big speeches and I like to deliver things at pace so I learned them back to front. I printed them off in A5 and stuck all my dialogue around the bathroom when I was in Liverpool so I could keep reading it again and again and again. That was my biggest prep.

Can you tell us about working with the brilliant cast?

I loved my scenes with David Threlfall, he became a new friend in my life. I hadn’t met Anna Maxwell Martin before, but I’ve always thought she’s an amazing actress and it was wonderful to find she’s an amazing person. We didn’t have any scenes together apart from in the court room, but I’m a big fan. Bobby provides such a complex performance.

And how about the young actors in the drama?

Working on this show – and being a child actress myself, I’ve worked since I was 13, so like 35 years – I am so impressed by the young talent, it’s quite extraordinary. I feel quite blessed to be playing the mother of all this wonderful talent. They’re so hard working and brilliant. Austin (who plays Tom) is delightful, he’s on a roll. Head down and works really hard. And that’s difficult, to be that age and play a character who has been abused. It’s very tricky.

Did you enjoy working in Liverpool again?

A Liverpool accent… I hope I did all right with that. Everyone else who was playing Scouse was Scouse, so I was like, I don’t want to let the side down! I absolutely love Liverpool. I’m a huge fan of Liverpool and Liverpudlians. Jimmy and Colin (Executive Producer) took me to a football match which was incredible. You just bathe yourself in the world and the culture of Liverpool. I have such fond memories and I’d love to work in Liverpool again, I adore it. Every time I reunite with Jimmy, I reunite with Liverpool and it’s an honour.