In the lead-up to the BBC’s new drama, The Cry, Jenna Coleman has been doing some publicity – and she’s confessed to initially fearing the psychological thriller’s heavy subject matter…
Talking to the good folk over at Digital Spy and members of the press, Coleman said, “It’s pretty dark… a psychological thriller. It was a bit of an emotional marathon… I’ve never had [to play] such a sustained amount of emotion for such a long time.”
“For [her character] Joanna, so much of it is quite internalised… it’s a lot like a pressure cooker, and it’s all internal until she cracks.”
Coleman quizzed over whether the emotional intensity of The Cry lured her to the project. “Oh God no!” she laughed. “I’ll try to find any reason not to do it!”
“But this one was a real page-turner. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I’ve read scripts that are a bit more predictable, or a bit more indicative, but I thought the psychological thriller aspect was so well done.”
Known for her role as the young monarch in ITV’s Victoria, this was a palate-cleanser for the actress. “The tone of the piece is very different… it felt a lot more intimate,” she said. “After doing Doctor Who, Victoria felt like a really good antidote. And after Victoria, this felt like a very good antidote to that.”
The Cry premieres on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.