“Broadchurch” is the latest British drama to come over on BBC America. Olivia Coleman and David Tennant star as detectives investigating the murder of a child in the small community of Broadchurch. Jodie Whittaker stars as the boy’s mother, Beth Latimer. I met Whittaker at the BBC America party for the Television Critics Association and got an exclusive chat with her about the series. She couldn’t say much because the plot is protected under spoiler warnings, but since I was familiar with her debut in the film Venus, we had a nice talk about the bookends of that and her latest drama.
CraveOnline: I remember seeing you in Venus. Did you imagine you would progress to the point of playing a mother in a series?
Jodie Whittaker: Yeah, it was weird. I didn’t imagine anything when I did Venus because I was just so excited to have been given a job. It was an amazing opportunity and I owe my entire career to that job because I wouldn’t have been given the opportunities I’ve been given without that leap of faith from Roger Michell, from Kevin Loader, from Hanif Kureishi. That was a whirlwind and it’s strange now because I was 23 when I did that and I’m now 31, and I play Beth Latimer at 30. It’s a small baby amount of time in your acting career but it’s kind of a huge amount of time in growth as an artist because you change boxes. You go from playing early 20s or teenager to I’m not playing mid to late 20s, early 30s, maybe a mother. Particularly in “Broadchurch” I’ve got a 15-year-old daughter so it was a big stretch, and I don’t have children.
Could you appreciate the sort of community in which “Broadchurch” takes place?
Yeah, definitely. I’m from a really small place also. My area that I live in North London is absolutely like that. I think something so tragic and so horrendous and unthinkable would shatter anywhere. I think what happens is, particularly for Beth, particularly for Ellie played by Olivia Coleman, your belief and faith in who you are, who your family is, who your friends are is completely broken when something like this happens in a small community and the person that has committed this crime is probably still within that community. So your trust goes out the window.
How does this stress Beth and Mark’s marriage?
I think for Beth and Mark, trust is a huge thing that is explored in many ways, not just about the death of Danny but also the secrets both characters keep or the relationships with people, how complicated that can be. The destruction of trust is a huge factor in the whole series, for everyone, and whose side do you take and who you believe and who we don’t believe. The media create a frenzy around one of the characters which is based on a true event that happened a few years ago. A provocative front page with a mug shot of somebody can lead an investigation, and that’s just wrong but it happens.
Did you get to spend any time with the young boy who played Danny?
Yeah, yeah, lots. He was in a lot. He was a great kid and you don’t know this yet, but he has a lot to do in it. He’s really fantastic and all the young actors in it, the boy who plays Tom, who is Olivia’s son in it and my daughter, who was 16 I think at the time when we shot it, huge emotional journey they had to go through and they were fantastic.
You said you owe your whole career to Venus. Once you got that, were you always hoping to do some really juicy British series?
When I finished Venus, I went straight on to a theater and I went to a really fantastic theater in London. Then when I came out of that, I then went on to a TV drama so in the space of a year, I did all three mediums. I did a play, I did television, I did a film all in one year so it was an amazing introduction to the industry. I was really, really lucky. I’m still lucky and also I’m still jobbing. I’m still trying to make the right decisions, trying to do well in auditions that I really care about, trying to create a reputation, not someone who’s difficult, not someone who is irresponsible and unprofessional.
I think when you’re younger you can be a bit complacent and a bit like “Oh, I made it. I’ve been in one film.” I’m very lucky I wasn’t brought up like that. I think that’s the attitude you need. I worked with Peter O’Toole, Vanessa Redgrave, the late and great Richard Griffiths, Leslie Phillips all in my first job. If you think you know what you’re doing, working with people like that you’re so wrong. They’re still learning, they’re still growing and discovering new things and it is the best introduction for anyone.
Who did you learn from on “Broadchurch?”
Andy Buchan who played my husband is the most extraordinary actor in the world. He’s amazing. I mean, Olivia goes without saying, David Tennant goes without saying. Obviously David Bradley, phenomenal. He is just extraordinary to work opposite. He just taught us a lot about manners and etiquette in the sense of sometimes you have to do a really hard scene and you go through something, and at the end of it, he always made you laugh. Even though he was having to do some really intense work, he’d always have a smile for you at the end.
