Katherine Kelly shot to fame in Coronation Street and Mr Selfridge, but the popular actress is currently starring in ITV's gripping three-part drama The Guilty. And she's admitted that she had to go through a lot of heartbreaking research for the part.
Katherine plays a mother devastated at the disappearance of her four-year-old son, whose body is discovered in a communal garden just minutes from the family home five years later.
More unsettling still, the little boy's skeleton is found with a blanket laid over him and another folded under his head - and his ribs were cracked, suggesting that his killer had tried to revive him. Whoever murdered the little boy had treated the corpse with respect, almost tenderness - which could mean that the murderer was someone who knew the boy well.
It's chilling, gripping and really worth watching, so it comes as no surprise that, while Katherine admits that filming the series was bleak, it was also something the actress was truly passionate about making.
“It’s bleak, but there are nice bits to it as well. It’s a realistic glimpse of life and that’s why I took it on. It’s got lots of layers – it’s not black and white.”
Researching the role took Katherine to some uncomfortable places, but she did draw a line with how far she would go, choosing to research the role through reading books rather than speaking with parents who'd lost their children.
“I didn’t go and speak to parents who have been through it. I know some actors do and I can see the value. But for me it just doesn’t sit right."
"I’d feel like I was taking somebody’s misfortune and using it for my job.”
Katherine, instead, chose to read books about Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 and Ben Needham, abducted from a Greek island in 1991. And, while they were "traumatic", they provided the actress with an idea of what was needed for the "gritty" role:
“I wouldn’t have read them otherwise because they’re too traumatic,” she confesses.“It’s absolutely horrendous what their parents have been through. I cannot sympathise with them enough. My heart goes out to them."
“Reading’s different to knocking on doors and asking questions. It has come from them and they want to share it."
“It wasn’t a walk in the park but I like doing gritty stuff. I was ready to get my teeth into something... I wanted to give it my best shot and feel I could hopefully represent people who have been through it.”
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