With a few projects under her belt, Joanna Vanderham was excited to be cast in the BritBox whodunnit, “Crime”.
Incentives for the 31-year-old actress were that she would be working alongside the inimitable Dougray Scott, and shooting would take place in her home country of Scotland.
The six-part series is an adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel of the same title.
The series follows the investigation by DI Ray Lennox (Scott) and DS Amelia Drummond (Vanderham) into a local schoolgirl who is missing.
The more they look into her disappearance, the more Lennox struggles as he battles his own inner demons.
During our telephonic chat, Vanderham could not stop raving about her co-star.
“You would do one take and it would be quite strained, and you would do another take and he had tears welling in his eyes. It was like a masterclass in acting. And how vulnerable he was, and how willing he was to be exposed. Loved it. Hopefully, we will get a season 2,” she said.
The one thing that didn’t surprise Vanderham though, was the glacial temperatures.
She laughed: “I know that shouldn’t be a surprise because I grew up in Scotland, but my final day of filming was in June and I think it was something that was like 9 degrees Celsius. So there were times when the two of us were running to the car.
“But aside from the cold, I did absolutely love it. I think you get a sense of that in the show. Kind of gorgeous backdrops, the landscape of Edinburgh cityscape.
“Honestly, the main thing for me was the people. The Scots are so generous. They are such characters. Everyone has such an interesting face; they are so watchable. It really warmed my heart; our ability to care for one another.”
Vanderham cautioned against assuming the TV series was a direct adaptation of the novel.
“The main thing is that this is called ‘Crime', and it is based on the novel. But actually, it’s brand new content. It’s not the story you read in the novel. It’s like new and imagined from Irvine.
“That feels quite exciting. No one has told the story before, because I am reading the book. It’s kind of the prequel to the book.
“Fans might feel like they have seen or heard it all. This is all new. And if you don’t know anything about Irvine's work, it’s like a punch in the face.
“He’s shocking and he’s bold, and his juxtapositions of the glorious and the grotesque and beauty and pain are unparalleled in writing,” she said.
Vanderham pointed out that the author did not watch TV, which meant he was not influenced by the cookie-cutter offerings either.
She said the series took viewers out of their comfort zone.
“I feel like this story needs to be told. It’s our responsibility to explore what our culture is, and how society functions. It shines a light on humanity and our psychology,” Vanderham said.
The actress is looking at several productions, as a producer. And she will be in the upcoming British drama, “The Control Room”.
“It’s a contemporary thriller about betrayal. It’s a very modern story,” Vanderham said.
“Crime” is streaming on BritBox.