When asked how she’s been keeping herself busy during the current pandemic times, British actress Sophie Rundle starts off by saying she feels guilty as she found staying home a peaceful and restful time for her.
“I quite enjoyed it, ” she tells StarLifestyle over the phone, with a small laugh.
“I found it quite relaxing for my anxieties when everybody was, you know, just having this downtime. I just did a lot of reading and baking.
“I’ve been teaching myself to sew, which I’ve really enjoyed. I haven’t used my sewing machine since I was at school. So, it’s been a nice chance to learn a new skill really, because we have no other choice.”
However, the 32-year-old also admits perhaps it is time for her to get back to work since it has been a couple of months of “downtime” already.
The full lockdown in Britain officially began on March 23 and was eased slightly on May 10, but the country continues to be in a form of lockdown as the numbers spike.
It is understandable that the English actress took full advantage of the time she got away from work as she has been busy with one series after another since receiving recognition in 2012 for her work in the four-part miniseries Titanic.
Other shows the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts graduate has appeared in are The Bletchley Circle, Episodes, the first season of Happy Valley, the first season of Bodyguard, Jamestown, Gentleman Jack and Peaky Blinders.
The reason she is giving StarLifestyle a call from London is to talk about her latest TV project The Nest, which looks at class, ambition and grave mistakes.
This five-part drama revolves around Dan (Martin Compston) and Emily (Rundle) Doherty, who live in a house that symbolises their life of privilege.
This wealthy couple in Glasgow, Scotland, seems to lead a happy life in all aspects except for the fact that they are childless.
Just when they seem to be running out of options to become a complete family, a teenager named Kaya (Mirren Mack) comes into their lives volunteering to act as a surrogate.
Desperate and believing that their meeting was meant to be, Emily goes to great lengths to keep Kaya, who’s from a poor background, happy.
Unfortunately, Dan is suspicious of the teenager and her true intent. The plot thickens when someone turns up dead.
During the interview, Rundle touches on the series, what attracted her to a role and what she misses the most with the pandemic still on-going.
I was quite interested in the premise of a thriller about motherhood; that desire to be a mother and how far a person will go to achieve it.
And the economic divide between two people from different walks of life, and how that can influence people’s morality and the choices that they make and the options they have available to them.
I thought it was a really interesting concept and that it would be satisfying to explore for a couple of months.
It is really challenging, actually. It is really hard when you come into work and you’re in a good mood... and then you’ve got to, in the next couple of hours, get yourself upset.
As much as I try to just keep the separation between myself and what’s going on in the scene, you do have to conjure stuff up and that can be quite hard to sit with... To try to keep yourself in the right headspace can be really exhausting.
But, while it is difficult, it’s rewarding in the end as well.
I think when I was younger, I used to really take it home with me. But as I get older, and do it more often, you learn to sort of access it when you need it and then just be able to wash it away as soon as you leave.
So, I’ve gotten much better... just to sort of train yourself to know what it is that’s going to help you get there and then just leave that at the door of the set.
It’s always surprising. There’s always something that kind of hooks you into the character and it’s always surprising what it is.
Whether it’s the costume that you wear, or whether it’s the other actors you are with, or whatever it might be.
But for this, I think the house really helped because it was such as stark symbol of how wealthy they are.
The house is a visual manifestation of their wealth, it tells you immediately who these people are and what their vision is. Also, it was nice for us to film in there, the crew had space and everyone really enjoyed the view.
I don’t think I do, really. They sort of come to me.
I think that when you have a chemistry with a character and with a project you know it’s right.
Sometimes there’s been projects that I love, but I was not quite right for it. And then other times, you just align.
Often, it’s just me having an instinct that it feels right. That’s when you know, it’s the right project for you.
Also, I try and do shows that interest me in some way. There’s got to be something about it that just gets my brain going.
You don’t want to be bored of the subject matter by week one. So, it’s got to be something that challenges you every day and every week that you go to work.
And I like working with interesting people that have got something to say, they’ve got passion about what they are saying. That’s what I sort of look out for.
I enjoy all aspects of it (laughs).
Someone told me about this interview they read with David Fincher where he was asked if he enjoys directing. And he said, “No, I don’t. But it’s a compulsion.”
And I’ve never related to something more. Acting is so hard, you put so much into it and it’s so difficult. There are long hours and you have to put yourself in these emotional states, and then say goodbye to a character at the end.
It is really difficult, but it is this kind of compulsion to do it. You know, every day when it’s late, it’s a night shoot, and you’re cold, and you’ve got to cry, I’m always like “That’s it. I’m not acting anymore.”
Then you go home and you read another script; you get another character and you think, “I’ve got to do that. I’ve just got to do this one more time.”
It’s kind of a love-hate thing. It can be difficult, and it asks a lot of you, but, in the end, what you get back is tenfold.
We’ve not travelled anywhere this summer, for obvious reasons.
I realise, like a lot of people, there’s so much more I want to see and so many more places I want to go to. It’s all a bit up in the air now.
And my brother, he lives in America and it’s such a tricky thing now. We don’t know when we’ll see each other again.
So, yeah, I’m just hoping things are able to settle down and go back to normal and in a safe way, really.
The Nest is available on BBC First (unifi TV Ch 481) and BBC Player.
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