She’s recently been seen running around London filming the second series of Trigger Point – but on a brief trip home to Nottingham, Vicky McClure is finding time to catch her breath.
“I’m running all day every day after bombs, running away from bombs, I feel like I train every day,” the TV actress says wryly of her role as bomb disposal expert Lana Washington.
The genial TV star famed for her role as DI Kate Fleming from Line Of Duty laughs at the obvious question: will the hit anti-corruption police drama be coming back for a seventh series?
“I don’t know,” she says, smiling. “I spend a lot of time with Jed (Mercurio, the show’s writer) because we are making Trigger Point at the minute and Jed is the exec (executive producer) on that. We are so thick into that, we’re not thinking about anything else.
“We’ve all said we’d love to, it’s just nothing’s on the agenda.”
Back with another bang!!!
💥💥💥
Swipe to see who’s back!! 🐶😉
Trigger Point series 2 incoming! @itv @htmtelevision @jed_mercurio @ericshango_ pic.twitter.com/6iHtufdlux— Vicky McClure (@Vicky_McClure) March 16, 2023
Away from action dramas, McClure, 40, has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about dementia. In 2019 she presented a BBC documentary called Our Dementia Choir, in which she set up a choir in Nottingham, exploring the impact of music therapy on sufferers. A follow-up documentary was broadcast last year and the choir is still going strong.
She’s still involved with the choir, many of whom have become close friends. “When I’m with the choir, I’m not thinking about my phone, I let go of my own worries, I get a bit of perspective.”
McClure, an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society, whose late grandmother had dementia, includes the theme in her debut children’s novel, Castle Rock Mystery Crew.
The Castle Rock Mystery Crew is officially out this week & we are super excited! To celebrate we're thrilled to share this special message from actress, dementia campaigner & wonderful debut author @Vicky_McClure!
Shop here: https://t.co/CKCRRSqaHl@KimeCurran @scholasticuk pic.twitter.com/rYd9cDksy7— Waterstones Kids (@WaterstonesKids) May 10, 2023
It’s a story about Jase, a 10-year-old boy on holiday at a Skegness caravan park with his aunt and grandmother, who suffers from dementia. There, he makes three friends and together they turn amateur sleuths to try to solve the mystery of a series of thefts across the site.
“I’m trying to get dementia spoken about in a younger audience, in different spaces with different scenarios,” says the actress. “It (the book) seemed like a great opportunity to find a way of navigating that topic into something that’s also joyous, with happy memories being made.”
The book also brings a sense of nostalgia, harking back to her own family holidays at a Skegness caravan park with her two grandmothers.
“It was always such a treat. I remember the freedom. We went pretty much every year.”
She weaves a mix of characters from different backgrounds into the book. McClure champions working class voices – her dad was a joiner and butcher, her mother a hairdresser and stay-at-home mum – and recalls having free drama training at Nottingham drama group, the Television Workshop, from the age of 11 to 21.
It’s almost publication day for ‘Castle Rock Mystery Crew’!! 📖
Get ready to join Jase 🚴Tyrone 🛴 Kinga 🚴♀️ Harri 🛹 and Sherlock the dog 🐶 at Castle Rock caravan park as they solve a mystery! 🔍
Out 11th May & available to pre-order online☀️👍😊https://t.co/vd75emGeO4 pic.twitter.com/KQa8MgkE74— Vicky McClure (@Vicky_McClure) May 3, 2023
She was offered a place at the prestigious Italia Conti School in London when she was 14, but the fees were beyond her parents’ reach.
“My mum and dad worked hard, we weren’t poor,” she clarifies. “We were very much a working class family where they were working all the hours so that we could have what we needed, whether it be new school shoes or other stuff, so I don’t want to claim poverty because that wasn’t my upbringing.”
But she suggests working class actors have a harder time than those with a privileged upbringing.
“I think it comes down to talent first and foremost. You’ve got to get the job on the merit of your talent. I have lots of friends from varying backgrounds. And I’ve got friends that have had the privilege of going to places like Rada (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) and big drama schools and have been able to do so because of their financial gain.
“I just know too many people that have not had that opportunity. It just makes it unfair because we are losing out on talent that is as strong, if not stronger, because they couldn’t afford the train fare (to go for an audition) or they couldn’t afford the fees.”
But the Television Workshop was worth its weight in gold. She was coached and mentored by fellow Nottingham-born actress Samantha Morton.
“When you look at the alumni that came out of the Workshop, it certainly showcased that it didn’t matter what your financial circumstances were, talent was being born there. And it was being executed brilliantly.”
She did lots of jobs while pursuing an acting career. “I started in retail – H Samuel, Dorothy Perkins, did a few weeks in Boots. Then I got an office job and I was there for eight years. In between that I was doing films like This Is England, then I’d go back to the office with a shaved head.”
In 2010 she left her office job to concentrate on acting full-time.
I. Can. Not. Believe. This! 🥹 https://t.co/GCFzxLwHZE
— Vicky McClure (@Vicky_McClure) March 22, 2023
“That was a risk. It wasn’t a guarantee. I didn’t know there was a Bafta nomination on the way; I didn’t know there’d be more This Is England; I didn’t know Line Of Duty was on the way.”
She was delighted to be recently nominated for a Bafta for her role in ITVX’s Without Sin (we speak before the result) as a grieving mother who develops a relationship with the man she believes murdered her daughter (she lost out to Kate Winslet), although she has mixed feelings about awards.
“I sit here now with the Bafta nomination, feeling really chuffed that my peers have looked at my work and felt it’s credible to be within that group of people, because (to be) up against people like Kate Winslet and Maxine Peake is dream stuff. When I was younger and working in Dotty P’s, that wasn’t on the agenda either. So there’s a part of me that is very grateful.
“Then there’s another part of me that goes, it doesn’t matter. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get nominated, or you don’t win, because there are much bigger things to worry about, like dementia, like my own personal life, like my family, and just the normal stuff. So, for me, I’m just going to enjoy getting a dress on – I haven’t got dolled up for a while and enjoy the night.”
She’s engaged to Welsh director Jonny Owen and says he keeps her grounded.
“We are both precious about family, about looking after people and enjoying what we do and trying to create things, now we’ve got (the production company) BYO (Films) together, something that we formed. We are just very happy.”
Away from the screen she’ll be she’ll be coaching the England squad for Soccer Aid 2023, alongside Emma Hayes and Harry Redknapp, although she admits her role won’t very physically demanding.
But she seems to have more than enough exercise in her acting life. While she has escaped serious injury during energetic filming sequences on her TV dramas, she recalls: “I do remember when we did Line Of Duty, and I was running, running, running when I was chasing Craig Parkinson (who played DI Matthew ‘Dot’ Cottan).
“It wasn’t that I got injured. I just ran solidly for three days. And I just remember feeling a pain and ache that I’ve never felt before.”
She’s also happy to let her stunt doubles step in during dangerous takes.
“If there are stunt doubles and professionals that would rather you don’t do certain things, because it could pose a potential danger, then let them do their thing. I’m not Tom Cruise. I like to look cool on telly, but not at the detriment to anybody’s health or wellbeing.”
Castle Rock Mystery Crew by Vicky McClure in collaboration with Kim Curran is published by Scholastic. Available now.
