in a number of National Theatre productions, often playing angry young women with a lot to say. ‘I got a lot off my chest when I was doing that!’ she laughs.
Jessica finds a great deal to interest her in the role of Jenny, who is so different to the rebellious youngsters she has previously played. ‘She has so much empathy, she is young, not particularly innocent, but she looks at things with such new eyes.’
Jessica is in awe of what young midwives such as Jenny, Trixie and Cynthia accomplished in the course of their daily work. ‘It is that sense of command and calm that is really important. You have got to be in control; you are dealing with a woman going through a lot of pain and she could be really terrified.’
By the time Jessica was cast, Jennifer was too ill to meet her. However we were able to show her photographs. She looked at the pictures of the young actress for a long time, stroking the black and white shadows on the paper. And she pronounced herself satisfied. That was all that mattered.
Jessica Raine and I picked up our scripts and set off into the future.
Q&A
What is your favourite outfit?
A cream New Look style coat I had tailor-made. I had to save up for ages, but it was worth the wait.
Where do you go on holiday?
I spent six months in Paris after leaving school. I’ve been back three times, and never tire of it.
Who is your dream date and where would you go?
I’m a classically trained pianist, so I’d love to go back in time and meet one of the great musicians, such as Frederic Chopin. He would give me a piano lesson, and then we would go out to dinner, perhaps on a mountainside, or with a view of a lake. That would be perfect.
What is your favourite record and film?
Mario Lanza singing ‘Be My Love’, and Brief Encounter. They both remind me of someone very dear to me, and a situation that we could not change.
What is your most treasured memory?
Opening the letter telling me I had been accepted to train as a nurse.
Your favourite meal?
Escalopes of veal, followed by Peach Melba.
What do you do in your spare time?
I’m a member of a music club, and I although I don’t drink much alcohol, I also love to visit the pubs of the East End with my friends. The Prospect of Whitby, down by the river, is a great favourite with all of us.
What’s your secret vice?
It’s not actually that secret – bright red lipstick!
And your most shining virtue?
I never give in to tiredness.
Where would you like to be in five years’ time?
Making my way up the medical ladder. Perhaps as a ward sister in a London teaching hospital.
PROFILE
CYNTHIA
Cynthia Miller and Jennifer met on the latter’s first day in Poplar, and a connection evolved that lasted until Cynthia’s death from cancer in 2006. Indeed, the final volume of the Call the Midwife trilogy, Farewell To The East End, carries the dedication, ‘To Cynthia, for a lifetime of friendship’. Her name remained unaltered in the series, at Jennifer’s insistence, and I was intrigued by their special connection, and very respectful of it. However, though Jennifer wanted Cynthia enshrined, as a memorial to the affection they had shared, she would not speak of her in any great detail. Then, on my very last visit to Jennifer, she went to great pains to get out her wedding album in order to show me a photo of her friend. It depicted Cynthia at the end of a row of guests. In a hat and belted coat, she looked shy and slightly out of things. ‘She was always so very unassuming,’ sighed Jennifer, closing the album.
When I settled down to work on the character of Cynthia, I decided the best approach was to treat her as special, but not unique. The world is full of young Cynthias – shy, quiet girls who feel things deeply, yet can be funny and playful in the company of friends. Weaving the scripts, I inched forward delicately, hoping to balance respect for Cynthia’s memory with the need to write a role that would interest an actor. Somewhere along the way, things must have clicked into place a little, because when Bryony Hannah read the script she wanted the job. ‘I was just really delighted by it. You know when you read a character if it is something you feel you are able to do, and you just hope you are the right person for it,’ she explains.
We cast Bryony without hesitation. Fresh from huge West End success in the play The Children’s Hour, we had no doubts about her talent, or that she could project the goodness and sincerity that Cynthia required.
‘I feel Cynthia is a younger person than me, and a little more naive than I am now. Her profession is totally alien to me but she is very kind and generous. She is giving, yet there is anxiety beneath that sometimes. It makes her a more rounded character.’
In the course of the role, Bryony has become adept at handling newborns. ‘The baby scenes are very humbling – you have a great responsibility, obviously,’ she says. But handling the infants has stirred up deeper feelings. ‘I was broody beforehand. It hasn’t made it worse, but it has compounded it.’
The birth scenes are always very intense, to the point where they can take an actual, physical toll. ‘It is so tense, and you get so involved,’ explains Bryony. The delivery of Winnie Lawson’s mixed-race baby in Series One was a case in point. ‘I got to the end of it all and found I was hardly breathing.
‘With my role I am trying to be as honest as I can, to allow the inner character to seep through. When playing emotional scenes I just want to be able to do the writing justice.’
Bryony first made up her mind to be an actor as a child, after watching black and white movies starring Fred Astaire and John Wayne.
‘Whenever I thought I wanted to be something else, it was only ever because of a film! I thought about chasing tornadoes after seeing Twister. I wanted to be a marine biologist after Free Willy.’
Nevertheless, it took time to see that dream become reality. She worked in pubs in her home town of Portsmouth, and sought roles in fringe theatre before getting into RADA at the fourth attempt. This enforced delay rather pleases her, with hindsight.
‘I don’t think I could have coped at eighteen. Twenty-one, the age I finally went there, is still young. I also looked at the year groups that came before me and I knew I wouldn’t
