media – Page 3 – Jemma Redgrave News

Gale Warning; BLUE MURDER

PEAK Practice star Gary Mavers doubles up from his regular medical role to play a copper in this one-off thriller tonight.

As Det Sgt Adam Ross, he is drawn into a web of adultery, deception and murder when he falls for the rich, beautiful and mysterious Gale Francombe (Jemma Redgrave).

But no sooner has he started an affair with this femme fatale, than he meets another woman who, in other circumstances, would probably have been his ideal partner.

Adam and Gale meanwhile plan what they believe will be the perfect murder.

As a cop who would be given the job of investigating himself, Adam thinks he will be able to cover all of the angles and leave the murder unsolved. But life is never that simple…

Jemma says: “Gale is completely cold-hearted and calculating, which was an irresistible challenge after playing someone was intensely warm as Eleanor in Bramwell.

I really liked the contrast, plus the fact that Gale was so open to interpretation.

“She’s a real chameleon. Just as you think you’re working her out, she changes again. …

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Jemma and her baby from hell – The Acid House interview

Genteel English rose Jemma Redgrave is set to stun cinema audiences in a shock Jock movie…

Playing mum to the Scots baby from hell!

For Ms Redgrave has joined Irvine Welsh’s gravy train and is about to be seen in the sickest movie idea of the year – a drugs shocker, The Acid House.

The plot turns on a teenage drug fiend (Ewen Bremner) who swaps personalities with a newborn baby.

At nine months, the weird bairn swears like a trooper, supports Hibs and spells out his needs… mostly booze and to be taken on to the terracing at Easter Road!

“When I got the script I thought it the most bizarre thing I have ever read,” says Jemma.

The role highlights Jemma’s versatility.

The 32-year-old member of the Redgrave acting dynasty stars as the Fascist leader’s first wife, Cimmie Curzon, in the Mosley series which began on Channel 4 on Thursday.

And she will be back on our TV screens as the prim Victorian, Doc Bramwell.

“After two years of period drama, to go to Glasgow and wear jeans and swear a lot and work with Martin Clunes was Nirvana,” she says.

The Acid House, which hits cinemas this spring, stars Martin Clunes, of Men Behaving Badly, as the shell-shocked dad.

It’s a tale of a jobless druggie tripping on LSD one night through Edinburgh’s West Pilton Park during a thunderstorm.

As he passes an ambulance in which a woman is giving birth, a bolt of lightning triggers the personality swap.

The mother suspects something is wrong when she smells booze on her child’s breath.

“It was quick tricky,” says Jemma. “I was followed around by four puppeteers working bits of the baby.”

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Acting World’s latest Redgrave has a British take on Dr. Quinn

We’re concluding our “quotes by Jemma” series with another interview from 1996 where Jemma talked about the complexity of her character Eleanor Bramwell. You can read the interview below:

You’ve heard of the Redgrave sisters: Vanessa and Lynn. Then, there’s their father, Sir Michael, and Vanessa’s acting daughters, Natasha and Joely Richardson. Now meet Jemma Redgrave – England’s answer to Dr. Quinn.

Redgrave stars in “Bramwell,” a four-part “Masterpiece Theatre” series that concludes at 9 p.m. Sunday on PBS (Channel 28). The British actress plays a Victorian-era doctor who perseveres through the prejudices of the time, much like our own homespun frontier doc, CBS’ Michaela Quinn.

“She’s very complex, and contradictory. She’s so courageous, bold and unconventional for her time,” says Redgrave of her character, Dr. Eleanor Bramwell. “And, she’s vulnerable. She’s naive about men and relationships.”

“Bramwell” runs as a regular TV series in England; here, new episodes of the series will run as another four-part series, slated for the fall.

The daughter of actor Corin Redgrave (Vanessa’s brother) and his wife, Deidre, Redgrave says she knew from an early age she wanted to act.

“I don’t know – it’s in the genetic code, I guess,” she says.

There were trepidations.

“The only reservations I had about acting is that I didn’t know whether I had an aptitude for it,” she says. Until, that is, she received “incredible notices” for her stage debut, in a play called “Easter,” and her mind was set at ease.

“Then I felt absolutely sure that I wasn’t going to embarrass my family,” she says.

Now, how would she feel if her son Gabriel, now 2, decided to follow in the footsteps of the theatrical Redgrave family, rather than in those of her husband, Tim, a lawyer?

“I think I’d just try and encourage him – and give him a few phone numbers,” she says, laughing.

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Films I'll Be There Press & Interviews

She admits the film ‘bombed’, but Jemma Redgrave had a ball working with Charlotte Church on I’ll Be There

JEMMA Redgrave is getting a bit irate. The subject of her recent film,I’ll Be There,in which she starred alongside Charlotte Church making her acting debut,has been brought up and she’s being fiercely protective of it.

Despite its universally bad reviews, she is adamant it’s not a glitch in her career.

“I had such a good time making that film,” she says.“I remember not wanting to work for a while after that because I had such a good experience. And I didn’t work for a while, you have to be careful what you wish for don’t you?” shelaughs.

Jemma has a great laugh. It begins with a snort before evolving into a full-blown, raucous guffaw.It’s very infectious,as is her enthusiasm for I’ll Be There.

“It was very easy to hang any kind of prejudice or dislike for Charlotte on the film,” she continues.“I may well be wrong but I think it’s a delightful movie.

“I’m not stupid. I don’t think everything I’ve ever done is fantastic.I’ve done a lot of stuff where I’ve thought maybe I’m not so good,but I did think that was good.”

Jemma, 39, is equally effusive about her famous co-star.“She was entirely instinctive and very natural and brought a lot of her warmth and humour to the part,” she says.“I think,for a 16-year- old in her first part, that’s great. I couldn’t have done it at 16,I was hugely impressed by her.”

Thankfully for Jemma,one of the famous Redgrave/Richardson acting dynasty, she has more hits than misses in her career -her most notable success was the costume drama series Bramwell -and doesn’t often have to stick up for her work like this.

Her next project looks set to be another hit for the actress, the two-part psychological thriller Amnesia,on ITV1 this week,in which she stars alongside John Hannah.

She plays the wife of an amnesiac whose life is turned upside down when Hannah’s troubled detective starts investigating her husband’s past.

Despite the intense plot, Jemma found the shoot an extremely enjoyable one. Her character and her husband run a boatyard and so the actress spent the heat wave during the summer of last year filming in a harbour on the Isle Of Wight.

“I took my three-year-old son Alfie and we had a very good time,” she says.“It doesn’t get much better than filming on a harbour and as long as Alfie had a crab net and a bucket,he had plenty to do. The weather was glorious and each day I’d go and do a bit of work and then come out and count the crabs with him.”

Jemma has two children,Alfie and nine-year-oldGabriel, with her husband of 12 years,barrister Tim Owen. She refrained from offering any advice to her co-star John, who recently became a parent himself,however.

“It was very early doors when we were working together so you never do when it’s only early,” she says.“Plus I think it’s really awful to give advice about pregnancy or parenting in any way at all. If anybody was to ask me for advice I could go on until the end of time,but I certainly wouldn’t offer it without being asked.”

Jemma often keeps her children with her when she’s working. Both her sons went with her to South Africa when she filmed her previous drama for ITV,The Swap.

“Being a mother doesn’t get harder or easier,it just changes all the time,” she says.“It’s always challenging. I thought it would get easier as they get older. I thought it would be really difficult to go to work when they were babies because the bond was so strong,and that as they got older they would be more independent.

“But I’ve found that I’m completely wrong and the reverse is true. They want you home more and more as they get older. The negotiation is endless.”

Her children are part of the next generation of a family that has produced acting talents like Jemma’s grandfather Sir Michael, her aunt Vanessa,her father Corin and her cousins Natasha and Joely Richardson. Her son Gabriel is already showing signs of keeping up the family tradition of a show biz career.

“He wants to write comedy,” says Jemma.“Well, that’s what he wants to do at the moment. He loves comedy. He watches all sorts of comedy and I think he must think he’s quite funny. And he is funny.”

Jemma showed similar determination when she was growing up,deciding she wanted to follow the family tradition and become an actress when she was barely a teenager. “I was unimaginative,” shelaughs. “Didn’t I want to rebel against family tradition?No.Isn’t that boring?I’m clearly unrebellious.”

She trained by going to a youth theatre and then attending drama school and quickly started to get parts when she graduated. There seems to have been no downside to having a famous surname?

“No,” sheagrees.“It opened doors,absolutely. It doesn’t get you any jobs,producers will say they’ll never offer you a job because of your surname, you’d only get it if you’re a good actor. But it opens doors to get to those jobs and is entirely helpful. God knows you can do with every single bit of help you can get in this profession.”

Coming from a family of award- winning actors might have created a certain level of expectation from people hiring Jemma but she says she never let that bother her.

“I don’t give a toss about expectation. As long as I’m getting jobs I don’t care. You can stuff your expectations.”

That’s all she’s worried about in the future as well,just getting jobs. She has no big ambitions to make it big in Hollywood or become a household name on British television.

“What I’d like is longevity in my career and to do interesting work,” she says.“I think that is quite an ambition to have for an actress because it’s really tough. I would like to be working, that’s what I’d like.

“I don’t mind the odd bomb like I’ll Be There,” sheadds,once more guffawing.“It’s true,I’ll Be There was a bomb. But it wasn’t a stink bomb, that’s the important distinction. But it doesn’t really matter.It’s all work,it all pays the bills.”

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Jonathan Cake talks about being reunited with an old flame for his latest drama, The Swap

Not because he has to get under the skin of a sinister baddie who plays warped mind games, in ITV1’s two-part psychological thriller The Swap, but because it teams him with his former girlfriend, Jemma Redgrave.

The two played lovers in Mosley in 1998 and romance spilled over into real life. After filming ended, Jemma split from her husband, Jonathan broke off his engagement to actress Olivia Williams, and they later became an item. Although the relationship didn’t last – Jemma was reunited with her barrister husband Tim Owen after 18 months apart – there was an undeniable chemistry between the pair, who are still on good terms.

“There was a spark between us,” says Jonathan, 34. “But that spark was a professional one. It was great to be working with a woman I like and admire. Whatever happened between us in our private lives was done and sorted long ago.

“Working so closely with Jemma again made me realise how good she is as an actress. It was very rewarding and challenging because it made me feel as if I should raise my game.”

Neither were prepared for the glare of public interest in their private lives almost four years ago, and Jonathan is bracing himself for another onslaught now that they are co-starring in The Swap.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

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Interview: It’s all Blue for docs

JEMMA REDGRAVE swaps the tender loving care of Dr Eleanor Bramwell for some red- hot bedroom action in Blue Murder, ITV’s steamy new one-off thriller – plus a spot of trigger- happy gun action for good measure.

In contrast to her familiar image as Victorian lady doctor, Bramwell, Jemma stars in the two- hour drama as a calculating murderess who shares raunchy love scenes with Gary Mavers, himself a million miles from the cosy world of Peak Practice.

“I never had any qualms about the sex scenes,” says 33-year-old Jemma, “I trusted our director, Paul Unwin completely because I’d worked with him before on Bramwell. There’s not actually any nudity, although the scenes are very erotic.

“We agreed there was no need for a lot of graphic sex. The scenes prove you can create something sexy without seeing lots of flesh.”

Jemma admits, however, she won’t be likely to be watching those scenes with her husband, barrister Tim Owen. “He knows the story and what it all involves,” she explains.

“I think he’ll agree it’s a stylish piece of work. I’ve watched the sex scenes, and I think they’re cleverly done – although I was probably under my jumper as I watched them, the way you watch Doctor Who as a kid!”

Inspired by the Hollywood thriller Body Heat and those atmospheric film noirs of the ’30s and ’40s, Blue Murder stars Gary Mavers as Detective Sergeant Adam Ross, who is drawn into a web of adultery, deception and murder when he falls for the rich, beautiful and mysterious Gale Francombe, played by Jemma.

Gale lives with millionaire husband Ben (Tim Woodward), and enjoys all the trappings of the rich and appears to be well beyond Adam’s wildest dreams. The chemistry between them is immediate and they begin a passionate and dangerous affair.

“It was great fun to play someone so wicked,” says Jemma, daughter of Corin Redgrave and niece of Vanessa.

The role couldn’t be more different from that of Bramwell’s Victorian lady doctor. “Gale’s pulse rate never raises much, so it’s less exhausting to play than someone like Bramwell who’s more emotionally engaged in life.”

Jemma admits she thoroughly enjoyed pumping several bullets into Woodward, her screen husband. “I’ve not worked with a gun before, but I was told I was a total natural!” she laughs. “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere near a real gun as I find them pretty revolting and scary things, but play- acting is different.

“It’s all make-believe and it was a real release. We had a gun trainer on set and I went out into the garden and we scared all the birds. When I pulled the trigger on Tim, I let my mind go blank. Rather like the bullets!”

Jemma was surprised to be offered the role of Gale. “It’s not the kind of thing I’m generally offered,” she says. “If you play someone for a long time, you do become identified with that character – like Bramwell. Sometimes it takes a leap of faith to see someone in something different.” With Bramwell so gory and Blue Murder so raunchy, it’s no wonder Jemma’s five- year-old son Gabriel has seen so little of his mum’s work on screen. “He will hopefully be able to watch my next one, Cry Wolf, which is a sitcom pilot for the BBC,” says Jemma. “I play a stroppy doctor.

“Yes, another medic, though, it’s a far cry from Bramwell.”

So far, Gabriel has tended to accompany his mother on many of her TV shoots, and he has a reasonable idea about the work of an actress.

“I experienced the same world as a child,” says Jemma. “You know your parent is acting, but it’s difficult to distinguish real life from drama. I remember seeing my Dad in something where he got killed. It was upsetting.”

Jemma is filming another BBC drama series, Fish, in which she and Paul McGann play lawyers. “It wasn’t hard doing the research,” she smiles, quickly adding, “Yes, I’ve had a lot of advice from Tim.

“Paul McGann is the star of the series, as a barrister working on industrial tribunal cases, and I’m his regular opposition – for the forces of darkness, generally speaking, though she’s not unsympathetic. She’s just more pragmatic. And there’s just a hint of UST – Unresolved Sexual Tension!”

There are no plans for a revival of Bramwell, despite its huge popularity. “I think everyone felt we took it as far as we could,” says Jemma.

So will Bramwell fans be shocked by Blue Murder? “I hope not,” she says. “It’s funny, the whole thing about image, and how viewers of a popular series expect to see you.

“A friend of mine in Bristol went to see the Irvine Welsh film I did, The Acid House, which was very in- your-face and controversial, and she said about eight pensioners came into the cinema. They all looked like they were Bramwell fans, and they were shocked.

“My advice to them is `Buy the Bramwell videos, stick with that!’ But seriously, I do think it’s important for an actor to explore new avenues. The last thing I want is to get typecast.” Trust us, after Blue Murder, there’ll never be any danger of that.

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Jemma’s set to turn up the heat

Jemma Redgrave will have temperatures rising when she returns to our screens as Dr Eleanor Bramwell.

For in the new series, we discover more about Dr Bramwell’s private life as her romance continues with Finn O’Neill – and it promises to be streamy.

As Jemma explains: “Victorian life wasn’t as stuffy as we are led to believe. People did have sex as well as blazing rows.

“She is human, warts and all. I would like to have her as a friend. But I think she would be exhausting and demanding.”

Meanwhile, Jemma revealed that her number one fan is her three-year-old son, Gabriel.

The wee fellow is a regular on the set of Bramwell.

Jemma said: “He particularly likes the microscope. It’s great that I am able to take him to work.”

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The day I had to saw off a man’s leg; INTERVIEW: Jemma Redgrave

Thought to shake things up a little so we’re having a few new/old interviews posted on the website soon. This is a fav of mine…

STAGING an underground train crash was tough enough for the makers of Victorian medical series Bramwell (ITV, 9pm). But there was one drama that was completely unrehearsed.

The set was invaded by 30 armed men in balaclavas.

Jemma Redgrave, who plays pioneering doctor Eleanor Bramwell, says: “They rushed out of one tunnel and disappeared into the other and totally ignored us. Later we discovered they were security services on a training mission. They didn’t seem the least bit fazed by seeing us. But we were all stunned – to put it mildly.”

The set for the dramatic opening episode of the new series was created at the now disused Aldwych London Underground station.

Equipment had to be manhandled down 165 stairs. But that wasn’t the only difficulty. In the train crash, Eleanor has to operate on a man whose leg has been crushed in a derailment. The problem was how to make the operation look authentic. The answer: a joint of pork.

“I have to say that working with a leg of pork under hot lights in a cramped set for several hours made the scene reek of authenticity,” says Jemma.

“Our producer was never allowed near because he would pass out at the sight of blood. But I relish the operations because I’m not squeamish. I find the medical aspects of the stories fascinating – and you don’t have to worry about motivation when you are sawing through a leg.”

In the new series, Eleanor is involved with a fellow doctor but her father disapproves.

“He thinks the man is a scheming opportunist,” says Jemma, who is married with a two-year-old son, Gabriel. “He thinks she’s a hussy.”

Jemma says it’s too early to say whether her own son will follow in the famous Redgrave acting family footsteps.

“It’s hard to tell what dramatic talent he might have,” she says. “When I was a child, I loved being around the theatre and becoming an actress was the natural thing to do.

“Having the Redgrave name was a problem only in that I didn’t want to let myself or my family down.”

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Articles & Interviews Holby City Media TV series

Will Bernie and Serena reunite?

Bernie and Serena haven’t seen each other since their dramatic kiss in the aftermath of the helicopter crash and Bernie went abroad. So with Bernie due back at work, Serena’s understandably nervous and has made an extra effort with her appearance.

At the nurses’ station, the two doctors meet but remain polite and civil – but Serena’s nephew Jason puts his foot in it by asking his aunt if she’s told Bernie about what happened between her and old flame Robbie! Although Bernie pretends to be unaffected, secretly she’s heartbroken.

Later, up on the roof, Bernie confides in Dom that she has strong feelings for Serena. Back on the ward, Jason comes up with a plan to get the two women together – he locks them in Serena’s office! Will they finally admit their true feelings for one another?

Meanwhile, Inga’s envy over the closeness of Mo and Mr T continues to drive a wedge between her and her fiancé. But when she starts to sense there’s far more to Mo and Mr T than just friendship, it seems Inga will stop at nothing to keep her man.

Also, Isaac’s delighted when he receives a research grant and begins the hunt for a new research assistant. As Isaac’s beau Dom and ambitious Jasmine go head to head for the role, it’s obvious a lovestruck Dom will do anything to get what he wants…

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Holby’s Catherine Russell on THAT kiss: ‘Serena didn’t see it coming but, when it did, I think she was all for it!’

There were shocks aplenty in tonight’s Holby City when, after a traumatic day at the hospital, Bernie kissed Serena! We chatted to Catherine Russell – aka Serena – about the big moment…

Holby City fans were left stunned by Tuesday night’s episode, which ended with trauma surgeon Bernie Wolfe and AAU stalwart Serena Campbell kissing!

As Holby was dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic helicopter crash, there was further drama when AAU ward manager Adrian ‘Fletch’ Fletcher was accidentally stabbed by a patient.

Bernie and Serena battled to save their friend and colleague and, as he was moved to intensive care, an exhausted Bernie and Serena sat on the floor outside theatre where Bernie told Serena she blamed herself for the fact Fletch was now fighting for his life!

As Serena reminded Bernie of how great she is both personally and professionally, then came a big shock, as a relieved and grateful Bernie leaned in to kiss Serena!

We got the lowdown from Catherine Russell – aka Serena – about how it happened, why it happened and what’s next for #Berena…

Well, that was quite some episode Catherine! Just remind us about events leading up to THAT kiss?
“Well, with Bernie feeling incredibly vulnerable, Serena’s desperately trying to reassure her it wasn’t her fault and tells Bernie she’s absolutely brilliant, fantastic and marvellous! And that’s when Bernie responds in an extremely relieved and grateful manner. It certainly comes as a surprise to Serena… but it’s not a disappointment!”

So how did Serena react?
“Well, Serena’s surprised and she does pull away initially. Serena totally didn’t see it coming but, when it did, I think she was all for it.”

In the scene leading up to the kiss, Serena and Bernie [Jemma Redgrave] are slumped on the floor outside theatre, emotional and exhausted, having just operated on Fletch. How did the two of you find the emotion for the scene?
“It was the day after the Brexit vote and both Jemma and I had spent the entire day bursting into tears and being really genuinely upset. That was the very last scene being shot on that day, so we were both genuinely knackered, upset and deeply stressed out and we did the read through for that scene sitting on the floor and the director said: ‘That’s it, don’t move, do it like that.’

“So while there are not very many silver linings to the Brexit vote I can say that that was one of them – I think the scene benefited from that because there was no acting required, we were just really p***** off!”

Bernie and Serena have become great friends in recent months – but has there ever been a sense that there were those sorts of feelings between them?
“Well, I think there has certainly from Bernie’s point of view, though I’m not sure either of them were aware 100 per cent that that’s where it was going. That said, I think it’s bloody obvious to everybody else that that’s where it was going!”

Ah yes, we’re aware there’s a #Berena trending on Twitter…
“Yes there is. On my Twitter feed, people have been talking about this for months and referring to #Berena – almost from the very first moment Jemma and I were on screen together, people spotted it, right from the word go!”

So do you think Holby fans will be pleased to see this latest development for Bernie and Serena?
“Oh yes! I’ve had messages, Tweets and letters from fans all saying that they want us to get together and they really think it’s brilliant. Lots and lots of great responses. So I think and I hope that people will be delighted.”

Do you hope the storyline generally will have a really positive impact?
“Well, from the perspective of a lesbian viewer, there’s so little out there on regular TV that they can look at and go: ‘That represents me, there I am’, that I feel a great responsibility to get this right and I hope we are getting it right. And I think for those people it will be really quite significant. Over the years, gay men have had role models on TV shows, including Holby, but there are very, very few gay women. So I think and hope there will be a good deal of support. At the end of the day, love is love.”

What’s it like working with Jemma?
“Oh, she’s hilarious and we really have so much fun. It is such a delightful place to work, we all get on so well and it’s a joy to have another woman of a certain age on set to play with.”

How do you think Serena and Bernie will deal with what’s happened in upcoming episodes?
“The aftermath will be interesting because the kiss happened so much in the heat of that particular moment, after that particular day – it happened when feelings were running high, people were feeling vulnerable and tired and it came out of that. So it’ll be interesting to see how Serena in particular feels about it in the following episodes.”

Holby City continues Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC1.

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