by Anthony Frajman
The Sex Education star on taking on a dream role in miniseries Towards Zero, adapted from the Agatha Christie novel.
Also starring Anjelica Huston, Matthew Rhys, Ella Lily-Highland and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Towards Zero is a 1930s-set murder mystery that takes place at a wealthy estate in the English countryside owned by Lady Tressilian (Huston).
After getting a divorce, tennis player Neville Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and his ex-wife Audrey (Ella Lily-Highland) decide to spend time together at Lady Tressilian’s estate, where they are joined by Neville’s new wife (Keene), and a group of guests.
Mimi Keene was excited to speak with us about her dream role.
Coming off the very different Sex Education, what drew you to this series?
“Number one is the fact that it’s period. I did it a tiny little bit of period work when I was younger. When you’re playing a child in period, no one’s putting you in a wig and a corset! I was very intrigued by that aspect of it. But on a bigger scale, I think the fact that it’s Agatha Christie and British and it would be at home here on the coast [Devon]. I love being at home.
“I’m a bit of a nervous traveller, and I get very homesick. And I can bring my dogs with me! Character-wise, I feel like I had an insight. There are ways in which the two characters between [my Sex Education character] Ruby and my Towards Zero character, Kay, are quite similar.”
You got the chance to work with Anjelica Huston. What was that like?
“At first, I was like, ‘oh my God, this is so cool.’ I get to work with her, in the English countryside, I was like, ‘that’s my ideal.’ I never feel more comfortable than when I’m in a rural area of this country. You could not stress me out and I’ve got my car everywhere I go, and my dog. But I couldn’t believe I was gonna get to work or meet Anjelica in an area where I feel really comfortable. You would think that if you’re ever gonna meet someone like her or work with someone like her, it’s probably gonna be in the States, it’s gonna be really big and scary …
“I was nervous. Everyone was already talking about her. She wasn’t there every day. The day that she came was the day that I did my first scene with her as well.
“And then, Sam (Yates), the director, came and got me and, and took me upstairs to the set to be like, ‘okay, so you’re gonna meet her now and we’re gonna do it.’ But then, I got to go into a separate bedroom, her green room, to meet her just beforehand. She was so chatty. She’s so warm. She has a very special energy about her, which is indescribable. And then we went and did the scene. She was even better in the scene. I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m gonna watch her act and then have to also act myself and be good and be good in front of her.’
“As soon as she started, she just has this air about her. It’s brilliant. I can’t explain it, but it made me very comfortable, and I didn’t mess it up. She’s amazing and I feel that she made me better as well. And then also on top of that, we got to eat lunch with her outside, which was cool. How many people get to do that? But it was really great. It was a great day. But also in the scene, my character was nervous about meeting her for the first time, which was unbelievably handy.”
You play a kind of a femme fatale in Towards Zero. How challenging was that?
“Honestly, the period nature is what gives it that feeling more than the other characters that I’ve played. Other characters I’ve played may have that similar air, but I feel like the period theme, ramps that up and makes it and makes it feel more that way.
“I always wanna feel good when I’m playing a character. I’ve been quite lucky in the sense that I haven’t yet had to play a character that is disliked, a baddie character. I’ve never had to play a character like that because I think it must be quite difficult because I have always really loved my characters. I’m biased. I blindly defend my characters all the time, even if my character’s a bit mean I don’t care. I’m like, ‘that’s my character (laughs).’ So, from that perspective, I enjoy it more because I love the character so much and I feel like kind of defensive of the character.”
Do you have a favourite part in the series?
“There are two dancing scenes. There’s one dancing scene where it’s out and its very high energy. There’s a band and lots of people. I’m pretty sure it was swing dancing. I’m pretty sure that was the style, which I’ve not done.
“But back in the day, that was the vibe. We obviously had to practice that, which was definitely not easy, especially as Ollie [Jackson-Cohen] is very tall and I’m not, (so) dancing together is actually quite hard because we’re supposed to balance each other. But, when we did it, it was really hot as well, but the outfits were great. It’s my favourite look with the jumpsuit and the flowers in there and everyone was a bit dressed up. It was hard work, but it was just a really great vibe.
“I also liked the dancing scene at home, which is a little bit more unnerving, the dance scene between me and Audrey [played by Ella Lily Highland]. Because there’s obviously a lot more going on behind the scenes in the sense of communicating silently between characters. And it’s just very intense it’s really focused on the women as well and the power struggle between the women. I love that. I think it’s a very matriarchal scene.”
Would you do another Agatha Christie series if you were given the chance?
“Definitely. For the rest of time, I’ll take as many as anyone’s willing to give me. And the Agatha Christie Foundation, they’re very involved, which is very cool as well. We met her actual family members. And they’re a big, big part of the entire process. It’s weird because it’s basically doing a job that’s like half real half not real.”
Why does Agatha Christie have such a big fan base even to this day?
“I think the one thing that everyone thinks when they’re watching a story, where from the beginning of the story there had to be so many Easter eggs and so many little things that to the viewer at the time are meant to be imperceptible as being important information. And I think that it’s just absolutely insane to have a brain that works like that, you can do that with your brain.
“Also, I just think her characters, especially her female characters were always ahead of the times, which I think is kind of also just a testament to the kind of person that she was herself.”
Is there something you’d really like to do next?
“I would love to do more fantasy. Things like superheroes and dragons and witches and magic and stuff like that. If I’m feeling stressed, I’ll watch that and I’ll disappear and then it’s like you could just escape life for a little while. So definitely that, because I haven’t done that ever.”
Towards Zero is now streaming on BritBox Australia.
