Juliet Rylance is opening up in an interview about her character Rebecca Harper in the BBC drama series McMafia, and revealing how she was initially left pretty confused after reading the first script.
In case you're not yet familiar, the series is adapted from Misha Glenny's bestselling analysis of organised crime, and Rebecca plays the girlfriend of James Norton's Alex who struggles to live a normal life due to his parent's connection to the Russian mafia.
Juliet explained to The Guardian that she was initially torn about her character, admitting that when she first read the script that she was confused about how her character could feel so secure in her relationship that could potentially be so dangerous.
"When I first read the script, I thought, 'Come on, Rebecca. You've got to see something's going awry and he's not telling you the truth,'" she said.
"Then I thought, 'How amazing to have a character who has such confidence and feels so secure in her relationship.'"
The actress also said she's pretty happy to see such strength in her character and doesn't think Rebecca is naive to trust Alex despite his family strife, which is one of the things that drew her to the role.
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"It takes amazing strength of character to go, 'I really trust this person. I'm going to believe what they tell me is true,'" she said. "I think that's a large part of who Rebecca is. She will give someone the benefit of the doubt. I like that about her."
The series also won't be as straighter story as villains vs heroes - or much like a James Bond movie. James confirmed that it won't be quite that action packed after it was suggested that the drama would act as an audition for him to play the next 007.
But while there's no Bond in sight, Juliet revealed that she'd often gets tips from the Russian actors on set.
'The two wonderful actors who played Alex's parents would say, 'You know, in Russia we would never say it like this'; or 'I would give him two kisses here,'" she explained. "And the director would take all that on board."
The BBC drama series was created by Hossein Amini, who previously wrote the thriller Drive, back in 2011. James Watkins directed the show and has previously worked on The Woman in Black in 2012.
Watkins said that he understood the drama to be about the protagonist finding "'the Russian bear under the bowler hat.'"
The thriller, which may act as something like the new Night Manager, is based loosely on real stories of criminality as well as the Chechen Mafia.
McMafia will air on January 1st at 9pm on BBC 1. The second episode is set to air one day later on January 2.
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