Interview with Nina Sosanya

The entire cast have an incredible focus, a real zest for getting the tiniest moment absolutely correct to make the series the best that it can be."

What attracted you to the drama Shetland?

I’d seen the series the first time around and thought the set up was really interesting – it was something I hadn’t seen on television before which made it appealing to me.

Describe your character, Willow Reeves…

Well aside from having a fantastic name, she’s a forensic scientist from the mainland who comes to Shetland to work on a case. She’s divorced with a teenage son so on paper she’s quite similar to Perez but her outlook is very different.

She’s kind of at a stage where she’s wanting to start the next chapter in her life and initially when she comes to Shetland it’s all very routine and she feels like she’s been bumped into the sticks where nothing is going to happen. But then she meets Perez, who seems like a really interesting, closed book and quite a challenge. And then the case is challenging too and she gets drawn in.

How did you find filming in Shetland?

I loved it. I’m quite a fan of barren landscapes, and it was absolutely beautiful. I’ve spent a lot of time in Scotland over the years but mostly along the west coast, I’ve never been as far up as Shetland. I didn’t realise how far away it is!

As a journey, it was really exciting, but I was terribly glad I’d taken earplugs with me because it was so noisy on that little plane.

Everywhere you go on Shetland feels like it’s untouched and that makes it interesting. And it’s full of wonderful wildlife which is my ‘thing’, so I arrived with my binoculars packed and it wasn’t long before I was bird watching from my hotel room. I had a ball.

What makes Shetland so unique as a location?

The landscape, the light and the fact that it’s so unusual in style. Shetland doesn’t look like any place I’ve ever visited before.

Can you tell us a little bit about the storyline you’re involved in?

On the surface it appears as though there’s been a tragic accident with a man crashing his car off the road, but there’s more to this. It begins to look as though there’s some sort of love triangle, but it turns into something that’s much more environmentally sinister, shall we say.

How is it working with Douglas Henshall and the rest of the cast?

The entire cast have an incredible focus, a real zest for getting the tiniest moment absolutely correct to make the series the best that it can be.

Dougie’s kind of intense but brilliant to work with. It keeps things exciting and you’re not always sure where he’s going to go with a scene and he very much keep you guessing. It’s not relaxed, it’s completely challenging for all the right reasons.

Any memorable filming experiences?

Erm yes, in so much that I nearly threw up. I had to shoot a scene where I was standing on the edge of some rocks inspecting a car and the sea was behind me crashing off the rocks. It was a particularly rough day and I thought I’d eaten something bad because I felt so sick. It was Stephen who said he thought I was seasick even though I wasn’t on the sea. Seasick on land – it was quite bizarre.