Since its launch in 2013, chilling drama The Fall has garnered critical acclaim, won numerous awards and terrified its audience of millions.
Neither a police procedural nor a whodunnit, it’s a psychological thriller pitting Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) against serial rapist and killer Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan) – but now their cat-and-mouse game appears to be up.
Clik here to view.
The final scene in the second series saw Spector slump into the arms of Gibson after
being shot. So now she finally has him in her clutches, is justice about to be served?
“I wish I could answer that question,” laughs Gillian, 48, when TV Magazine meets her and Jamie to discuss the third series.
“It’s fair to say Spector is in a critical condition. On the one hand, he’s right where Stella wants him – and on the other, he’s exactly where she doesn’t want him. She wants justice for the families, but this has stalled everything. It’s infuriating.”
Jamie is equally evasive about what these six top-secret episodes hold for his character.
“People know not to nag me because then I won’t reveal anything,” says the 34 year old.
“A lot of people are very intrigued that I’m still in it. Some people can’t work out why or how that could possibly be, so I’ve had a bit of fun toying with people when they ask.
Clik here to view.
“But there are twists and turns I don’t think the audience will see coming. People can expect more of the same in terms of the cat-and-mouse element, but the parameters of that have now changed, which makes for gripping television.”
A quirk that made The Fall so unusual was that its two lead actors barely shared any screen time. But now, with this series picking up exactly where we left off – with Spector captured and about to be admitted to hospital – Jamie and Gillian will finally have more scenes together.
That’s something the Irishman relishes. “Gillian is incredible, she is a ferocious actor,” he smiles. “I think the first scene we did in the second series was the longest scene in BBC2 drama history. It runs for 20 minutes, is two people and was 14 pages of dialogue.
Clik here to view.
It was a fun scene and my favourite day of work I’ve ever had. You’ve got to learn something from people who are that good at what they do.”
As addictively good as The Fall has been, it hasn’t escaped criticism, with claims that it goes too far in depicting violence against women.
“I don’t understand the reactions of those who find the story too violent,” says Gillian. “It leaves me wondering: ‘My God, you’ve got to be kidding?’ The violence is not at all gratuitous or a distortion of the things that happen every day. What disturbs some people is that we treat violence in a very real way, which is going to have a deeper emotional impact on audiences.”
This third series is due to be the last – though creator and writer Allan Cubitt recently hinted that he could bring the show back but with different leads, suggesting one or both of its main characters could meet their maker.
The drama has clearly played a vital role in both actors’ careers, and Gillian admits her time as the icy police detective will stay with her.
“I will miss playing Stella,” she says. “I haven’t allowed myself to really process it, with the knowledge that maybe she’s not completely gone. What if we were to pause and come back in three or four years and see where she is?”
Since The Fall began, Jamie has enjoyed a meteoric rise to superstardom. But, thanks
to the Fifty Shades Of Grey films, his role as heart-throb Christian Grey could overshadow that of Spector.
For that reason, TV Magazine has been specifically asked not to grill him about those sexy movies. But he’s the first to admit how key the BBC drama has been for him.
“This job has changed my life immeasurably and a massive part of me will miss it,” he says. “Every single positive thing that’s happened in my career from the day I got cast in this is because of this job. As horrible a character as Spector is, I take great joy in entering his very sinister mind and spending time there. I have no sympathy for him, though, absolutely not.
“I certainly wouldn’t shy away from more movies. I wouldn’t want to play villain after villain, I think there’s absolutely no point in being an actor if that’s all you want to do. Whether I get the chance to play someone as well-crafted as Spector again, I’m not sure.”
Unsurprisingly, it’s not a character Jamie wants in his head longer than necessary.
“I find it very unhealthy staying in his mind-set for too long,” he explains.
“In this third series, Allan has thrown extra juicy, horrific things into the mind of Spector and it’s down to me to let those things wallow in my head and express them in a believable way. I never want to let Spector stay with me beyond ‘cut’.”
Working in the UK on the series has proved a highlight for both Gillian – who was raised in London from the age of two before moving to America aged 11 – and Jamie, who hails from Belfast, where the show is set and filmed.
Clik here to view.
“I love it as a city,” smiles mum-of-three Gillian. “I stay in the same hotel room every single time I’m there, I’ve got my little routine. I generally fly in, shoot the next day, fly out the night I’m done shooting, go home, do the school run – that’s my life.
“My children’s dad [Gillian’s ex, Mark Griffiths, the father of her youngest two kids] is great, I wouldn’t be able to do it without him. He’s amazing and they adore him.”
“I told Allan how refreshing I thought it was to read something that’s set in Northern Ireland that doesn’t directly involve the Troubles [the 20th-century conflict over Northern Irish independence],” adds Jamie.
Gillian, of course, rose to stardom as Dana Scully in the US sci-fi series The X Files. When she reprised the role alongside co-star David Duchovny (Fox Mulder) for this year’s reboot, she reveals it took a great deal of adjustment.
Clik here to view.
“I hadn’t played Scully for such a long time that it was difficult for me to go back to that character,” Gillian explains. “I had pushed her to the back of my brain and I wasn’t expecting to get a chance to play her again. Also, I had turned my attention to playing Stella, so that made things even more complicated for me.
“Stella is one of my favourite characters that I’ve ever played, so I was reluctant to go back to The X Files, even though David and I both felt that we had never properly ended the story when the third film didn’t happen.
“As the years have gone by, I’ve been able to let go of a lot of my anxieties. Sometimes you just need to let life take its course and leave behind a lot of stuff that you’ve accumulated from the past. I’m much more able to live day by day, whether it’s personal or professional issues. Above all, I’ve learnt how to fight fear.”
The Fall is on Thursday 9pm on BBC2