Page 9 - 25_Bafta ACADEMY_Fearne Cotton_ok

scary spicy
She’s been described as “the one-woman argument for Freeview”. Funny lady Julia Davis tells Quentin Falk about her digital women
profile
The visitor to the Nighty Night site in cyberspace was clearly very concerned about the character of its leading lady. “You do have to worry,” she wrote, “about [Julia] Davis’s own sense of self-worth having created, writ- ten and performed this most irre- deemably toxic of women.”
Who on earth, the database surfer asked, “has she known in her life that would enable her to capture the character of Jill so perfectly?”
Davis giggled a little nervously before pondering such an inti- mate inquiry: “It’s not one person as such. I think I have accumulat- ed some experiences that... actu- ally, it’s really hard to pin it. I hap- pen to think people are inherently good but I’m also horrified by how horrible people can be.”
Someone from her hometown of Bath, perhaps? “I did work in a supermarket there for a while and some of the women did speak like that. I do remember some of them being particularly horrible to a cleaner. Truth is, most of them were very nice. I just like taking a feeling or an idea and blowing it out of all proportion. In short, I actually haven’t met one woman like her.” And if she has, she’s certainly not telling.
Jill, for those who haven’t been initiated into the world of BBC3’s latest comedy cult, is the kind of woman who would have been slayed before the first com- mercial break in Midsomer Murders. Self-absorbed, deeply insensitive, sexually provocative
and shamelessly callous, she’s also, against all the odds, a laugh-out-loud hoot thanks to the skill of a brilliant, taboo-breaking writer-actress.
Davis, who is in danger of becoming ubiquitous thanks to recent appearances in films like Love Actually and Wilbur (Wants To Kill Himself) – as zany Nurse Moira in charge of a therapy group – is also a good reason for tuning into BBC4’s ratings hit, The Alan Clark Diaries. Elegantly coif- feured and clad compared with Jill’s ‘R’ rated mien, she plays Clark’s frosty secretary Jenny Easterbrook with a delicious hint of underlying sexual tension.
With all this current activity, including an upcoming film role in the oddly-titled Sex Lives Of The Potato Men opposite Johnny Vegas, it’s tempting to describe Davis, at 37, as an overnight suc- cess. But fans of her earlier come- dy work with the likes of Steve Coogan, Chris Morris and notably, Rob Brydon, with whom she collaborated on the award- winning Human Remains, will properly appreciate that it’s been quite a long night.
With a local drama group then an improvisational outfit, where she originally met Brydon, Davis first began to hone her comedy. After sending in some sketch ideas to Radio 4, she was eventually invited by one of her heroes, Steve Coogan, to con- tribute to his touring live show. Brydon heard about her work with Coogan and it wasn’t long
before he and Davis linked up again for Human Remains, pro- duced by Coogan’s company, Baby Cow, which is now also the “umbrella” for Nighty Night.
Brydon has said of his some- time co-star: “There’s no room for compromise with Julia. She is a purist. She totally immerses herself in every character she plays. It’s both exciting and frightening.”
Davis would like to have immersed herself even more in the character of Clark’s secre- tary: “I did try to research her but could find out very little about who she was, apart from the accent. I asked the director if I could get in contact with her. “But,” she added, a little darkly, “it was just not possible.”
Had there been any feed- back? Not from her real-life char- acter, as far as she knew. However the politicians who made up an early preview audience apparent- ly loved it, pre-empting what has become BBC4’s biggest ratings- grabber to date.
Nighty Night is an altogether different and more uncomfort- able kettle of comedy filled with politically incorrect references to terminal illness and disability – all orchestrated by the monstrous Jill. It began as BBC3’s most success- ful debut comedy to date before evening out into a lower but still healthy audience, digitally speak- ing, for the rest of its six-part run.
As we spoke – although by the time you actually read this, the series will be over – Jill’s fate hadn’t been finally determined,
with Davis still closely involved in the editing of episodes five and six which, she hinted, offered even the outside possibility of a fatal solution.
There has, she admitted, been talk of a second series. But, sighs Davis, “to be honest, I’m not sure what I think about that. I haven’t conceived any sort of idea of where Jill would go next.
“Although I knew when I was writing her it was outrageous, you’re so close to it, so absorbed in constructing the story and making the jokes, you don’t really see that at the time.
“In a way, I long to write something lovely. Writing comedy is really difficult and it would also, I imagine, be very difficult to write something sensitive and emotion- al and not just hide behind this kind of character.” But no, she wouldn’t rule out a more conven- tional kind of sitcom.
So is she anything like Jill in real life? Davis quailed at the very suggestion: “I don’t think I am in any way as horrible as Jill. In fact, if I have one problem, it’s actually standing up for myself.” Then, she added, revealingly, “...apart from work. I’m quite strong there.” You better believe it.
Photos left and centre: Julia Davis in Nighty Night and right in Wilbur (Wants To Kill Himself)
7