Ahead of tonight’s penultimate episode of Broadchurch series two, Grazia caught up with Eve Myles to discuss viewer backlashes, filming sex scenes and, err, dogging...
Your character, Claire Ripley, wasn’t in the first series. Was it intimidating joining such a hugely successful show?
I think intimidating is putting it mildly; it was almost like an out of body experience. I had to walk into a room full of people who I admired so much, but I was also just seeing their characters, which has never happened to me before. Normally you can always separate the actors from the characters, but that was impossible with Broadchurch because I was such a huge fan of the first series.
**Did you know from the start what role your character played in the Sandbrook case, or did the writers keep you in the dark? **
We don’t get given the scripts in a block, we get them episode by episode. So as an actor you can only play what’s on the page. And that’s very refreshing, because in episodes one, two and three I can’t play what’s happening in six, seven and eight. Because I don’t know!
There’s been a bit of a backlash to the second series, with reports saying the ratings are down. How have the cast reacted?
We haven’t talked about it really, because it’s something you expect. Everything I’ve done, people say that the second series isn’t as good as the first, and then the third isn’t as good as the second. What is a shame is that what hasn’t been highlighted is the fantastic response we’ve had. We have 5.5 million watching each week, that’s without people on catch up. I’m very happy with the reaction.
**Claire has a very passionate relationship with Lee. What were those sex scenes like to film? **
Our main sex scene took about three hours to film, even though only about two minutes was shown. With a scene like that, we mark everything through and its choreographed within an inch of its life to ensure everybody’s comfortable with what’s going on. Two weeks after filming that scene, I was having my family holiday in Greece. So in my head I was going through the list of what factor to put on my children when we go away. So yeah, that’s how sexy those scenes are to film!
**We were amused by the scene he wooed you with the takeaway… **
It was Chinese. I think it was a chicken chow mein.
**And that’s the way to Claire’s heart? **
Absolutely, she’s Welsh! All I was worried about was that I knew that he had to kiss me, and I thought, ‘God please don’t let there be any spring onions in it!’
**Apparently Broadchurch beach has become a popular dogging spot... **
No! Is that really…really? I suppose they’ll have something lovely to look at. And feel part of it.
**We can imagine Clare and Lee being up for a spot of coastal dogging… **
I would pretty much imagine they’re there now!
**Has there been any indication about whether there will be a third series? **
I don’t know if. We don’t even know if Claire Ripley makes it to the end of the 2nd series…