Shirley, explains Julia, is the power behind the throne and almost a Lady Macbeth type. Then they can push him to redraw local boundaries to cut the town’s poor estate off from the prosperous village and quash plans for a drug rehab clinic in their area. Shirley and deli owner Harold are NIMBYs (‘Not in my backyard-ers’) who are quietly delighted when the sudden death of a local councillor (Rory Kinnear) means they can campaign to get their son, Miles (Rufus Jones) into the seat. “I always play parts with a duster in my hand, or the very sweet next-door-neighbour type, or I’m investigating things, but this woman is the mother-in-law from hell! It’s nice to play someone so unlike Miss Marple.” “Shirley’s a real b*tch!’ chortles Julia. Julia is seen as a sweet Englishwoman in tweeds and sensible shoes.īut not her latest character, Shirley Mollison. Julia leapt at the chance to play Shirley, wife of village bigwig Harold (Michael Gambon), because she loved working with him in Cranford, and because Shirley is not like the characters we’re used to Julia playing.Īlthough Julia has a varied and award-winning career on stage and in musicals, on TV she has tended to be cast as sweet-natured women such as Hester in the sitcoms Fresh Fields and French Fields, tender-hearted Mrs Forrester in Cranford, and more recently as Miss Marple. It’s set in a beautiful English village, behind the idyllic façade of which rages a war between rich and poor and between families. We’re meeting late on a Sunday night in a caravan on the set of the BBC1 drama, The Casual Vacancy, a three-part adaptation of JK Rowling’s first adult novel after the success of the Harry Potter books. Julia had intended to take last autumn off, but then along came one of those roles she simply couldn’t say no to. And the weather’s so changeable we face the southwest and it comes in fast – pow!” I was unsure at first, but now I love it. “When my mum died we thought, ‘Let’s go and look at the sea’ and that’s why we moved there. ![]() Julia and Jerry moved to the seaside four years ago from Oxfordshire, where they cared for Julia’s mother until her death. He’s been completely supportive of my career and teaches me all my lines He’s just a nice guy and I’m very lucky to have found him. “We’ve been married 42 years and I’ve enjoyed practically every moment. We don’t have family anymore, so we’ve only got each other and it’s nice. I love cooking and spending time with my old man. ![]() “It would need a special part to take me away from all this. Best known these days as ITV’s Miss Marple, Julia admits that, at the age of 73, only the offer of very good parts can lure her away from her home on the south Devon coast she shares with husband, retired American actor Jerry Harte. "With these period dramas, Marple, Poirot and Cranford, it's like stepping into a warm bath.Julia McKenzie confesses she’s almost having too much fun to work. ![]() While the more recent Marple dramas tinker with Christie's original stories and have their fair share of racy material, McKenzie thinks they fall into a long tradition of cosy Sunday night fare. The actress recently finished filming the next series of Cranford in which she plays ditzy Mrs Forrester - a far cry from the sharp-minded crime solver. "But I'm not into picking up details like Marple, though my husband says I've been spotting things in the house that haven't been done in my absence - an extension of her," she smiles. With a gruelling filming schedule to produce the lavish Sunday night dramas, McKenzie admits it has been hard work and has mislaid two pairs of glasses as a result. I wonder if she did it with a Lancashire accent?!" she jokes. "The only one I haven't seen is Gracie Fields. ![]() The actress, who also stars in period favourite Cranford, says that she has watched most of her predecessors, including Rutherford's "real comic creation". McKenzie, though appearing much younger, is reminiscent of Hickson's carefully studied, quiet and enduring portrayal - regarded by many Christie aficionados as the definitive Marple. Julia McKenzie, pictured as Mrs Forrester in Cranford
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