Interview with Annabelle Wallis

Annabelle Wallis plays Grace Burgess

How does series two end for Grace?
At the end of series two Grace had just confessed her love to Tommy. She couldn't live without him and it was left very open-ended in many ways. He’s moved on and she’s disappeared from his life.

What was your initial reaction to reading Steven Knight’s opening scenes of this series?
I loved it. Steven’s writing is so rich that the second you start a script you are completely immersed in his descriptive narrative. The opening scene of this series is so overwhelmingly evocative of the series. The moment that I began reading his writing on the page I was totally immersed, not knowing what to expect.

How does it feel to come back to the series?
It’s wonderful to return to Peaky Blinders. We’re all here for the right reasons - to work and do justice to what’s written on the page. Steven is a genius who writes characters so well. He builds characters with so many shades of grey and writes women who are multi-layered with strong story arcs. He has really made the show bold, brave, contemporary but with a through-line to classic film and television making. It’s true to the period but it has moved with the times. It’s grown over the years and the third series really opens on a different level and scale to previous years. It’s so cinematic and exciting for all of us.

Could you describe the grander scale of series three?
I think the premise from the start was to make a television show that felt like cinema, with big epic production values. It began with that mission in mind. We wanted it to go global in terms of its look and it’s exciting for me that it has followed its path in the right way. The sets are bigger, the cast is bigger, it seems television is really where people are taking the biggest risks now and this is one of the shows lighting the way for the rest.

What can we expect this year in terms of tone and scale?
I think you can expect fast-paced, sexy, bold, brave, exciting, scary drama - all the things under the sun that inspire you. It’s great television and I hope the audience are really going to enjoy it. I think that people are going to laugh, cry and scream, it definitely has an experience for everyone and it’s going to be an emotional ride.