“I haven’t played anybody like her before…”
Black Doves marks Sarah Lancashire’s first move into streaming, with the highly-anticipated spy show launching on
The former star of the BBC’s popular crime drama has opened up about how her character Reed – a boss of the spy organisation – in Black Doves is unlike anything she has played before.
During a press Q&A ahead of the series’ release, Lancashire was asked what was good about playing the role of Reed.
“Well, the joy is that I haven’t played anybody like her before,” she explained. “She’s a very self-contained character, but it’s all going on inside. I think because she’s given the best years of her life to an organisation which has probably robbed her of a partner, children, family, friends, it’s grim. There’s an air of melancholy. I think the problem is she can’t unzip; if she unzips, it will all come out. She has to be a rock and an anchor for everybody else, really.”
The was also asked what drew her to the role – and she described it as being “really simple.”
“Because it’s just Joe’s brilliant, exquisite writing,” Lancashire added, speaking of the creator Joe Barton (known for previous projects Giri/Haji and The Lazarus Project).
“And it was quite unlike anything else that I’d ever seen because it’s taut and it’s clever and witty and audacious and that’s a very compelling combination,” she continued. “It’s something that really physically engaged me, emotionally engaged me, but also I think Reed was already there on the page.
“I think it’s so brilliantly drawn, the grammar really of the language, it’s very precise, very exacting and I think that was the clue to finding her.”
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