Romola Garai On ITV’s Betrayal: ‘Claire Is Close To Edge’

There’s a gripping new drama to binge, premiering Sunday night at 9pm on ITV1. We sat down with star Romola Garai to talk all things Betrayal, her upcoming role in a ‘radical’ new adaption of A Doll’s House at the Almeida Theatre, and living a life in balance.

(© Ruth Crafer)

Q&A: Romola Garai

Hi Romola, how’s life going at the moment?

Pretty good, thanks. I’m just packing for a few days surfing in Morocco! I’m pretty terrible at surfing but hoping to see some improvement. I feel very lucky that I get to occasionally go away by myself and just be in the water and recharge my brain from the pressures of working and parenting.

You are about to star in Betrayal on ITV – can you give us an elevator pitch for the show?

Betrayal is a four part miniseries about John (Sean Evans) who works for MI5. At the beginning of the first episode, he’s involved in a dramatic murder that pulls him (and his colleague Mehreen) into the complex world of Iranian dissidents in the UK and opens up a case that could threaten UK security. 

However! At the same time, he’s coping with the breakdown of his marriage as the pressures of leading a life full of secrecy has driven his wife, Claire (played by me), into a state where their marriage is at risk of dramatically falling apart.

SHAUN EVANS as John Hughes & ROMOLA GARAI as Claire in Betrayal. (© ITV)

How would you describe Claire, and what was it like playing her?

Claire is a busy GP and mum to two young kids. She is one of those women who just about copes with the extreme pressure of running her family and a busy working life that involves caring for others – a pretty toxic combination that lots of women will know and recognize! 

She’s deeply empathetic and caring, but you also feel like she’s close to the edge of what she can take. Her husband‘s secrecy (the secrecy required by his job, and also that extends into his character) is pushing her into a place where we see her take some pretty wild action to correct the balance of their relationship. 

It was really fun to play a character who’s in a state of real change – going between trying to keep everyone else happy and keeping all the balls in the air, to meeting her own needs and rebelling against the status quo. I know so many women like Claire as well. It felt like a really recognisable character to me, which I enjoyed.

How did you get into character?

I have the advantage of knowing quite a few women who are GPs, so it was very useful to me to be able to fill in the blanks with this character as I understand the real demands of a job that requires such profound intelligence, empathy and dedication to society and the people around you. It’s such an amazing job that requires so many different skills. I have such respect for it that it was really useful for me to draw on that live knowledge. Apart from that, I just tried to be very familiar with the script and try to serve the storytelling as much as I could.

Any standout moments from rehearsals or filming?

The final episode is a very dramatic situation, which was very intense to film, so I remember that was quite a difficult experience – but it also was really fun going to that place. Shaun and I have some pretty massive marital rows [in Betrayal], which were sad but also quite fun to film. You watch two characters really finally say all the stuff that they’ve been sitting on after 10 years of marriage!

ROMOLA GARAI as Claire Wardley in Betrayal. (© ITV)

What has been your favourite project to date?

So many different projects for completely different reasons. I think I’m very attached to a miniseries that I made called The Crimson Petal in the White (2011). Michel Faber, the author of the novel, is one of my favourite writers and that book is an extraordinary book. There are very few times in your life when something comes into your inbox where you get chills just knowing that you have been sent it. Getting the opportunity to play a character that you’ve absolutely loved on the page was an extraordinary thrill.

I also had that once in a lifetime experience last year when I was able to perform in a play called The Years. There are very few times in your career you get to be involved in a project where you move the art form a bit further forward. I felt very lucky and honoured to be part of a play which I feel was bringing an extraordinary new form of art to the stage.

Any roles in the pipeline that you’re excited about? (If you’re allowed to tell us!)

Yes! I’m incredibly lucky to be playing Nora in A Doll’s House at the Almeida Theatre from the end of March to the middle of May. It’s a role I’ve always wanted to play and I’m incredibly lucky and honoured that the incredible Anya Reiss has done the adaptation of this radical new modern version of this classic piece of theatre. It’s a real dream come true for me.

Who has been your favourite actor to work with in the past?

That is a very hard question to answer! Some of my favourite actors are people that I’ve met who have become my close friends. But then I’ve also worked with actors where I’ve just felt very lucky to be working with them, because I thought they were incredible. I’m going to say Michael Gambon because I worked with him a few times, and I think he was an extraordinary actor. He was always really nice to me, and very silly and fun, and made me cry with laughter every day I worked with him.

Which co-star did you learn the most from?

I think Suranne Jones. Seeing an actor lead a production and deal with all of the stress of the incredibly long hours and difficult material, and balance that with an executive producing role where you are across script development, and ensuring the piece is as good as it can be when you deliver it to audiences, and you know that that person has a family as well, and they know everyone on set (including the day players) and are attentive to their needs, and they do all that with kindness, humour and generosity… It is so impressive. She’s an extraordinary actress and producer and a really brilliant, nice woman.

What’s your dream role?

Oh my God, how do people answer this question?! I think the thing is, the role is not nearly as meaningful as the project. There are lots of film directors that I would really love to work with. I think it’s an extraordinary thing when you get to work with someone who has a real vision from script to screen. 

I have always really loved film and love going to the movies myself. I think I’d like to play more roles on film with female geniuses – filmmakers I love like Kelly Richardt or Mia Hanson, Jane Campion or Alice Rohrwacker. But the films I think I most consistently enjoy are by the writer Diablo Cody. She wrote a film called Young Adult which I think is one of my all-time favourite films. And also, a film called Tully, which I go back to again and again. These films are full of humour and wit, but also they’re very meaningful, beautiful films. The scripts are always so exquisite and balanced. I have the script for Young Adult on my desk and I pick it up all the time and read it. It would be a dream come true for me to work with her. But I think that’s almost totally unlikely! 

Whit Stillman is one of my favourite filmmakers. I almost got to work with him once, but then didn’t get the job and I was really sad about that.

Who is an actor, writer or director you’d love to work with?

I guess Diablo Cody or Whit Stillman with my actor hat on. But I also work as a writer-director and I’ve been lucky enough to get to collaborate with some performers who I’ve always really admired. I have a project which Mia Threapleton is attached to. She’s an extraordinary actress and I really hope we get to make our project together.

Do you get to spend much time at home and what do you like to do with your free time there?

I absolutely love to spend time at home. As I get older, I basically never want to go away. I find spending months and months in a different city not being with my kids or sleeping in my bed really challenging, actually. When I’m at home I like to do the normal stuff like the school run, seeing friends for coffee, taking my dog for walks in the park, baking and spending a lot of time on the sofa reading!

Do you live in the town or the country, and which do you prefer?

I live in London. I prefer the city to live because I like to go to the theatre – and I’m very greedy and I like to go out to new restaurants for dinners! But I do really need the countryside and have to pick myself up with regular trips out of London and holidays in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. We had a wonderful holiday in Wales last year near Cardigan. To be honest, it did rain a lot, but it was so beautiful and real food for the soul.

What’s your interior design style?

I would say a desperate and entirely unsuccessful attempt to re-create Beata Heauman’s eclectic traditional style in our house. Which ends up looking crazy instead. I bought myself my first piece of art recently, which is a painting in our hall. It’s quite big and absolutely everyone who’s walked into our house has seen it and said it was hideous. But I am very committed to it. I also live with a lot of very messy people so it’s impossible for me to achieve my interior design dreams. I’m blaming them!

How do you find balance in your personal and work lives?

I don’t. It’s a constant and completely unsuccessful tussle between the two.

How can we all live a little bit better?

Ban social media. Reduce everyone to one hour of phone time a day.

Anything fun in the pipeline – professionally or personally?

Well, I’m looking forward to my four days surfing in Morocco! My surfing is appalling, but I like being in the water.

What Romola Garai Is Loving Right Now

I’m currently watching… Task. And enjoying it! 

What I’m reading… I like to have fiction and non-fiction on the go at the same time. Fiction, I’m reading another book by the incredible Celia Dale who’s a writer I discovered recently and whose work completely blows me away. It’s a novel called Spring of Love and it’s extraordinary. Non-fiction I’m reading Deficit which is a book about how women and their contribution to the Labour market has been persistently written out of our economics and how our societies entire economic structure is written by fantasist men who only understand the world through the value of material goods and are in complete denial about the economic role that caring responsibilities play – which has basically completely messed up our world and given us an economic system which is killing our planet.

The last thing I watched (and loved) was… Pluribus. Deeply philosophical, profoundly entertaining, funny, moving, and full of humanity. I’m struggling to come to terms with the fact that I’m going to have to wait God knows how long for the second season when it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen on television.

What I’m most looking forward to seeing… I’m really looking forward to seeing Paapa Esseidu and Hayley Squires in All My Sons next month.

Favourite film of all time… Sally Potter’s Orlando (1992), Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) and Young Adult (2011).

Favourite song of all time… ‘Cloud Busting’ by Kate Bush.

Band/singer I always have on repeat… Waxahatchee

My ultimate cultural recommendation… David Sedaris. His writings are so brilliant and relatable. I don’t know anyone who could read his books about what it’s like to be part of a family and not understand, laugh and feel better. I think he’s one of the best things in the whole world.

Cultural guilty pleasure… Sitting on the sofa and watching Interior Design Masters with my kids and commenting on their choice of interior design… Based on absolutely no superior knowledge at all!

Romola Garai stars in Betrayal, premiering Sunday 8 February at 9pm on ITV1.

All episodes will be available to stream on ITVX from 8 February.

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