ATV Insider: Interview with Law and Order actress Freema Agyeman

We have a treat for our ATV Insiders today as courtesy of the kind folks at the ITV Press Office we have an interview for you with Law and Order UK actress Freema Agyeman who plays Alesha Phillips in the ITV remake of the popular American crime drama series. Law and Order UK returns to ITV1 on Monday evening for a second series an as the new season kicks off Alesha is still struggling to cope with her ordeal she suffered. Freema Agyeman talks about the success of the remake and what season two holds for Alesha.   
  
 
 
After the success of the Law & Order brand in the US there must have been a certain amount of pressure to make the UK version a success.  You must be delighted that an average of six million viewers each week have proved the UK version is a hit as well?   

“Absolutely. It was one of those double edged swords.  We wanted it to be like the US show but at the same time we didn’t want it to be a carbon copy. It’s got to be different in order to be fresh.  And six million people got it, so I think we achieved that. We stuck to the formula but we made it our own.   We have focused on giving a little more insight into the main characters which isn't really what they do in the American version. I think viewers like to get a little glimpse of their back-story. But we have remained true to the original and we haven’t gone down that route more than we need to. It is about the crime, it is about the story, that’s what makes the show a unique format.  So yes, we’re thrilled.” 

Some of the storylines you film are harrowing.  Do you find it hard to switch off after a long day filming?

“No more than if I watch the news – which a lot of the time is harrowing.  The producers of this show pride themselves on the fact that the storylines could be torn from the headlines.  It’s unreal how some of these stories were written 20 years ago and yet are so relevant today. Some days it’s a really long day and all I do is go home, roll into bed and get up and come to work.  Other days I will be putting the world to rights with the driver all the way to my front door because you just need to thrash it out and get it out of your system.  Hopefully that’s what we’re doing for the audience, we’re giving them the opportunity to have discussion and debate about things that are going on by having that social commentary.”

What do you think the viewers like about the series?

“Ultimately, we have delivered universal topics, relevant issues and the fact that the characters aren’t black and white in the sense that the truth is complex.  We present a story and people are given the opportunity to make up their own minds.  As Dick Wolf has said, ‘The first half of the show is a murder mystery, the second half is a moral mystery.’ There are different elements that appeal to lots of different people.  So if you enjoy crime drama or legal drama, you’ve got that.  If people interest you, you’ve got that too.  If you want slow burn relationship development with the main characters, the show encompasses that as well.  So I think it fulfils quite a lot.” 

What is your favourite episode from this series?

“I like them all for different reasons but I’m going to pick out episode 5 ‘Love and Loss’ as it is the only story not based on an American episode. The others are brilliant but I found episode 5 has a lot of humour in it.  And it’s also great for Alesha and James’s relationship. We really get to see a little bit more about them as a working partnership. It was really nice for me as well because I adore Ben and I love having lots of scenes with him. It was great for us to play a more playful side because they are very functional characters. Often the guests that come in deliver the emotion to an episode and our characters are on duty. But in this episode it was great because it went off on a different tangent for us.”

In the last episode of series 1 Alesha went through the traumatic experience of being raped and series 2 begins in the aftermath of that. How has this experience affected your character? 

“Well that’s an interesting one actually.  We didn’t want to carry a storyline over as that’s not the format of the show but at the same time we had to give such a sensitive issue it’s due attention.  We had to acknowledge it.  So we questioned, ‘How much do we carry that over from now and forever more?’  Also rape would be something she would have to confront regularly in her world of work, so how would she deal with that?” So ultimately she puts up a guard to prevent having an emotional landslide and separates her personal self from her professional life so she can still do her job to the best of her ability. It does impact her, it has to.  But since we never see the characters outside of work, we never see how she deals with it at home.”

In the first episode we see James hand the reigns over to Alesha and she takes to the stand to cross examine.  It must be exciting to see your character develop and grow?

“It’s great.  That’s what is so fabulous about this job.  When I started I knew what the specifications of the role were going to be.  But I also knew about the prospect of Alesha advancing in her career and I thought, ‘There’s so much scope there.’  It’s so exciting for me as an actor.  One of the reasons I took this job was because I feel at this stage in my career, it’s all about getting different experiences in order to grow and I think Alesha is getting that too.   She’s very much James’s protégé at the moment.  She is looking to him for instruction and learning from him.  So it was really exciting to step up and take to the stand. And that courtroom is something else.  It doesn’t matter how well you’ve prepared, we see it happen over and over again.  Whether you’re up on counsels row, or in the witness box it’s an environment where you feel the walls closing in and it’s quite overwhelming.  So I was really feeling it as I stood up there. Ben and the guests who come in, are unbelievably accomplished in what they do – it’s like doing theatre and television at the same time. So, it was great to have a go but really nerve-wracking.”

It is hinted that there could be something between James and Alesha.  Do you think that they're both so work focused at the moment they would refuse to admit the possibility to themselves or each other? 

“James is such an amazing character.  And Alesha has complete admiration for him.  For the two of them to be spending that amount of time with each other, their relationship, working or otherwise, has to develop.   It’s nice to suggest the otherwise.  You might get a hint of their personal lives.  I think that’s really exciting.  The viewers can make their own minds up.”

What is your favourite thing about Alesha?

“I like the fact that she is clearly a fighter.  When we started in series 1 we did back stories for the characters.  We thought about how they arrived and where they were at in their journey.  We all decided that it was a hard slog for her.  She hard grafted.  I like that and I think it sends a really good message out.  For me personally as an actress I think that it’s important to have good role models.  And I like the fact she is this strong woman.  She is not afraid to make mistakes, learn, grow and gain experience.”

Why should the viewers come back and tune into series 2? 

“Every episode is always going to offer a fantastic moral dilemma. If people like to watch television for escapism, it is compelling and does offer that, but if you watch television to be provoked then it certainly offers that too.”

   
Law and Order UK returns to ITV1 on Monday 11th January at 9pm. Interview courtesy of the ITV Press Office. Interview and images copyright of ITV. 
 
Keep an eye out across the weekend as we uploaded interviews with Law and Order UK actors Ben Daniels and Bill Paterson.