Q&A with Angela Griffin
Q&A with Angela Griffin
Published: 5 October 2016
Everyone is always at work, checking social media, it’s easy to control what other people see but underneath, it’s never what it seems.
Tell us about the character you play, Jenna.
Jenna is a meticulous, perfect human being or so she would have the world believe. She comes across very well educated, well dressed, has a perfect life, is a strong women, has a perfect husband, a car and the perfect apartment!
She’s worked incredibly hard to get to where she is in life, running Cooper’s with Joe and Toke underneath her. She enjoys her life or so she thinks or so the world thinks but actually underneath she has a lot of turmoil going on. Her life isn’t as perfect as she’d have everyone believe and that comes out throughout the series.
Do you share any of Jenna’s qualities or weaknesses?
No, I don’t. Actually she is probably someone who is further away from me in terms of where she’s come from. I can shout about where I’m from all day long, I’m really proud of my background. If anything, I probably put out the opposite image to Jenna, where my life isn’t as perfect as what Jenna tries to make hers out to be. I try to play everything down, rather than up.
Was Jenna a fun character to play?
Oh my goodness! Yes. I loved her wardrobe; I’ve never had a job with such beautiful clothes, so that was really nice. The makeup was amazing too. I’m always quite down to earth ‘mum’ so to play someone who takes a lot of time getting ready was a nice change - I really enjoyed that.
When we get to episode 6, Jenna’s episode, it’s the most challenging role I’ve ever had in terms of what I had to do. So in a strange way, I absolutely loved playing Jenna, her life becomes a complete mess. She spirals out of control.
What other people think is a key theme throughout the series and very important to Jenna – why do you think this is?
The image and perceptions of what other people think is very important to Jenna. Our lives feature so much through social media at the moment, with Instagram and Facebook, there doesn’t seem to be as much face to face conversations anymore.
Everyone is always at work, checking social media, it’s easy to control what other people see but underneath, it’s never what it seems. I think the technology and social media plays a big part in this series. You see people ‘stalking’ each other on social media sites and what is put on social media is key to other people’s perceptions.
Do you think that the rise of social media has contributed to us wanting to appear perfect to others?
I think it absolutely has. It’s all about ‘selfie’ or ‘no make-up selfies’ or ‘filter selfie’ so I think it definitely has, it’s where everyone tries to make it look like they’re perfect!
What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told?
I think maybe one of the worst lies is one I made up with Jeff Brazier. We had to find a derelict house near to where you live which looks like the creepiest house in the world, then tell your children that’s a home for naughty kids and if they don’t behave they’ll be taken to that house if they misbehave!
Who did Jenna bond with most throughout the series?
She tries to keep herself to herself. She doesn’t want to connect with anyone really but I suppose she connected with Joe (played by Con O’Neil) the most. He’s the only one she goes to if she has to ask anything. We don’t find out much about Jenna’s back story until the last episode.
