Gillian Anderson has spent much of her career playing “outwardly strong successful women” like Margaret Thatcher, Emily Maitlis and, of course, Agent Dana Scully, but in Channel 4 drama Trespasses she was drawn to something completely different.
In the upcoming Louise Kennedy adaptation, Anderson plays Gina, mother of protagonist Cushla (Lola Petticrew), a young Catholic schoolteacher whose life in 1975 Northern Ireland is overshadowed by the Troubles. Cushla’s world is full of defiant spirits, including her mother, a woman struggling with addiction who spends most of her days bound to her living room and the bottom of a bottle.
“I have played lots of very outwardly strong and successful women who feel like they have already figured everything out,” said Anderson, who won an Emmy for her portrayal of ex-UK Prime Minister Thatcher in The Crown. “So having a chance to play someone who is really struggling with addiction but is in complete denial about it was interesting. So much of addiction exists because of that level of denial.”
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Anderson said she drew on those around her when she was first told she’d landed the role. “I felt as a child that I grew up really quickly and didn’t have parents who were active addicts, but I know people who have dealt with that themselves and can’t even imagine what that must do to a sense of one’s place. So I was fascinated to jump into it and immerse myself in what that dynamic might feel like.”
As she got deeper into character, Anderson realized that audiences will see the “devastating” impact of her relationship with Cushla on screen, a “not uncommon” mother-daughter dynamic which she found “very very moving.”
By taking on the role, she feels a sense of responsibility to addicts but her “bigger responsibility is about the beloved novel, and making sure that what I am delivering is to the best of my ability.”
Along with storied UK producer Amanda Posey, Anderson is an EP onTrespasses. She says she was first asked by Kennedy to play the role over a couple of glasses of wine and dinner. “I said yes immediately,” she added. “I was very aware that I wanted to attach myself as a producer and was excited by the direction that Amanda was moving in.”
A “scary” opportunity
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023, Trespasses charts Cushla’s life working nights in her family’s pub as she meets and falls for Michael – an older, married Protestant barrister, played by Tom Cullen. Their affair is intoxicating and dangerous, both politically and at home. The show is being produced by Wildgaze Films, which is run by Posey and Finola Dwyer.
Both Petticrew, who starred in hit FX series Say Nothing, and Cullen say they were shocked and intimidated to have landed their respective parts.
“I felt like I hadn’t seen myself in that role and maybe something I’d never do was a romantic lead,” added Petticrew. “To be given that opportunity really scared me.”
Cullen is not from either Ireland or Northern Ireland and therefore felt an extra dose of “responsibility” to be part of a story about such a charged piece of history.
“I felt incredibly privileged to be involved,” said Cullen. “The responsiblity felt pronounced because of its cultural and political impact, and also its impact on people’s lives. I don’t hold it lightly that as someone not from Ireland I’m telling such a specific story.”
He was helped along by Trespasses scribe Ailbhe Keogan, a writer on Bad Sisters, who loved Kennedy’s original and wanted to keep the series as close to the source material as possible.
“I read the book in one afternoon and was crying so much, not just sad tears but rich tears,” she told us. “I was really moved and let out a few guffaws. My husband said ‘play it cool’ when I pitched for this but I didn’t play it cool, I had my pitch prepared with pictures, typography and the whole thing plotted out.”
Trespasses launches on Sunday.