Interview with Elaine Cassidy

I certainly didn’t want Katherine to be the pantomime villain. To me she’s a real person and she has so many different sides to her."

Katherine had quite an eventful time in series one. For people who might not have watched it but would like to watch series two, how would you sum Katherine up?

I would strongly recommend they go out and buy the box set! But if they can’t do that, Katherine is a very strong-willed and quite spoilt character. She’s ruthless and shrewd and does everything in her power to get what she wants. She’s got quite an ego, and she’s certainly not shy. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with. When you meet her in the second series she’s got emotional wounds that she’s tried to bandage up. She comes back to The Paradise and she has a readymade family, a husband and a daughter. But t Katherine hasn’t turned the other cheek and isn’t willing to forgive and forget. She’s come back with a vengeance and with an agenda. There’s definitely going to be drama.

How does she feel about being jilted by Moray?

We didn’t really explore her being jilted last year because she didn’t find out until he didn’t turn up. There’s definitely more exploration of that this year, but there’s also so many other things in play - how she feels about Moray and Denise, and how she feels about Flora and Tom, as they are the main four people in her life. We all deal with things differently. Some people get upset, some people get angry, and some people get even. Katherine definitely deals with things the best way she knows how, through anger and then trying to make that person feel the hurt that she’s hurt. She’s a woman on a mission for destruction.

Between series one and series two there’s been a year and she’s lost her father in that time. How is she coping with that?

Not great, but I think she’s been dealing with it through a lot of distraction. She’s not very healthy and a healthy person would go through the grieving process and feel all the different emotions you go through. Katherine even before losing her dad was in the grieving process from losing the man that she loved, Moray. She’s lost so much. There are so many voids that she needs to fill and she does that through distraction and through revenge. The one saving grace for her is Flora, Tom's daughter, who represents innocence and hope and new life but gives Katherine something beautiful and she’s sure to taint it somehow.

She’s very attached to Flora. Is she broody in series two?

I don’t think so. She’s not even in a relaxed enough place to be thinking of that. She’s a woman scorned and she’s obsessed with Moray and Denise. She’s in an unhealthy relationship with Tom - it’s quite toxic and not very well functioning. It does function for them but that's because neither of them functions well. They are a match made in hell. She doesn't even have time to think about being broody.

What is her marriage to Tom like?

It is passionate and they have a balance that works for them. She does support him and look after him and there are times when he does likewise. They both give each other a purpose. They are both wounded animals and it’s like the blind leading the blind trying to get through life. They don’t know how to deal with their real issues, the fundamental issues that have been underlying for years and years. They are just stumbling through life and functioning in the unhealthy way that they know how. It’s a relationship that works. She's never going to meet someone who is healthy and has their stuff together because they are not going to be attracted to Katherine. She’s too obsessive and suffocating.

How is it for her having to see Moray and Denise? Is she over him at all? She does invite him back to The Paradise…

Coming in to series two, I don’t think she knows how she feels about Moray until she sees him again. It begins to escalate, each time she sees him she thinks she has it under control but she doesn’t. She hates Denise anyway and it’s just reaffirmed each time she sees them. She wants to cause her more pain than what she felt being abandoned and being second place. She’s been used to her daddy sorting out everything she wants, through manipulation, for her whole life. She hasn’t got that this time. As well as being hurt emotionally, there was a lot at stake, so it’s hard for her to see them together.

How does she feel about The Paradise now?

It’s really a pawn. It’s something that can be used to her gain. Her husband is in control so that’s something else she needs to manipulate in order to have things go the way she wants them to go. She’s an opportunist so as things twist and turn she will turn it to her advantage. She’s very quick and quite Machiavellian. She cares about The Paradise because it’s got Moray but apart from that she doesn’t care, it’s just a building. She knows Moray loves it so much so it’s important to her just for that reason.

In series two there’s discussion about female rights. What was life like for Katherine as a woman in this era and for women in general?

It was really rubbish. The clothes were so restrictive. I’m a lot more confident wearing them now, but the first time I did a period drama I was shocked. I was sitting down all the time and I was lethargic. It wasn’t so much the corset but the weight of the petticoats and the feel of them. It was like having a feather duvet wrapped around you in heat and weight and the weather’s been amazing this year so it has been difficult to function, let alone act. Also Katherine comes up against it regularly, and Tom is quick to let her know, that he is the husband and he has inherited everything. If he turned around tomorrow and said she was mad she’d be in the madhouse in the blink of an eye. It was frightening for women; they had to toe the line whether it was right or wrong. Women really did have the raw deal. I’d rather live now. People moan about how the woman’s role has become more complicated and I do think that’s true as we’re expected to do more, the house has to look presentable and kids needs to be raised and careers need to be maintained, but we are multi-taskers. Nobody said life was easy but it’s certainly enjoyable and thankfully there are certain things that make life easier for men and women these days, but in a way they also make thinks harder because things are expected to be done at a faster pace, because we now have the ability to do things faster. There are different problems in every era. Some things improve and some get worse.

At the start of series two The Paradise is going through a bit of a decline. Do you think that’s a theme that can resonate with people today about what’s been happening on the high street recently?

My interpretation of the decline was really down to Moray not being there. He’s the brainchild of The Paradise. He brought it up for nothing and it was thriving last year. His absence equals it not doing as well as it should do. That is the case with a lot of businesses, especially when you watch Undercover Boss. I watched it the other night and it’s really just having people who care and making sure the person running the ship is imaginative, creative, innovative and hard-working. Then you’d need a lot of elements going against you for it not to be a success and that’s the way with any business, you can’t take your eye of the ball for a moment if you want it to thrive.

What has the viewers’ reaction to Katherine been? Was it what you expected?

People seemed to understand who Katherine was. What I never wanted and what I would find uninteresting in any character I played would be someone who was one-dimensional, or a caricature. Yes Denise is the protagonist, and Katherine is more the villain of the piece, but I certainly didn’t want Katherine to be the pantomime villain. To me she’s a real person and she has so many different sides. I wanted her to be as well-rounded as possible. Knowing all the information I know about her informed me of how she would react in certain situations.

She is human and she’s not quite psychotic - she could get there - but she still has emotion in her. It is interesting when you see someone acting in a certain way and they just come across as cold and spoilt and horrible, with no empathy for anyone else, but when you get a little window in to their life, their background or why they are the way they are, you then begin to understand why they function the way they do. It creates a dichotomy where you start to feel a bit sorry for Katherine, even though what she’s doing isn’t right. To me, that’s what makes her more interesting because life isn’t just black and white. As you get older you realise there are a million different shades.

How did it feel to return to the role? Was it easy to go back to playing Katherine?

It was. On the first day I had a little bit of a panic, thinking that I could have done a bit more work the night before, but she was easy to find. It took me maybe two days to fully get back into her skin because she’s so different to me and she embarrasses me sometimes because she’s so brazen. But that’s also the fun of playing her, getting to go there, because it’s completely not me.

What was it like to be reunited with the cast?

It was really nice. It was just so easy; we picked up where we left off. Last year there weren’t many outings within the cast because people were commuting to London but this year everyone’s become a lot closer. Normally your first day on a job is like your first day at school but this just felt so much easier.

What’s it like having Ben joining the cast and playing your husband?

Amazing. I was delighted when I found out he had been cast. My husband had worked with him and I’d worked with his partner, but we’d never actually worked together. I think he’s a brilliant actor so regardless of what he’s like as a person, I was really excited. He’s just such a laugh to work with, and we just giggle all the time. He’s so cheeky - but he’s also a brilliant actor as well. I never know where our scenes are going to go until we play them and they are all so enjoyable.

Do you have any fun stories from filming this series?

I still haven’t played my match in the table tennis tournament, but I’m not that bothered about it to be honest. Everyone else is a bit more excited about it. My favourite part of the day is when the sandwiches come out and there are these marshmallow treats.When we’re in Belville Hall, the housekeeper always brings Ben and myself coffee in a cafetiere and proper china crockery. We live the high life. Ben and I just have such laughs - the other day he had to stick a pin in his leg to stop himself laughing, we just couldn’t keep a straight face and we were filming a take and the camera was on him. I’ve had some takes where I’ve had to have my eyes closed and say my lines because if I look at him I will just laugh. We’re obviously very serious about our jobs but we don’t take it too seriously.