This script has been lightly edited for clarity.

 

Jace Lacob: I’m Jace Lacob, and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio.

“The course of true love never did run smooth.” Relationships will always have their ups and downs, their ebbs, and flows. But for Alice and Jack, their relationship is a messy, turbulent affair — a wild vortex that sweeps up everything… and everyone around it.

Near the beginning of their romance, Alice abandons Jack for what he believes is the final time. Free from Alice’s siren song, Jack meets a woman named Lynn outside a movie theater, their easy rapport palpable from the start.

 

CLIP

Lynn: Sorry, are you alright?

Jack: Hey, uh, yes. Yeah, thank you. Based on the title I thought that was going to be a romantic comedy.

Lynn: Oh, no it was. For Nazis that is a romantic comedy.

Jack: Mmhm.

Lynn: Are you okay? Do you need some air or something?

Jack: Yeah.

Lynn: Yeah.

 

But for Jack, the course of a second love proves equally complicated. Shortly after beginning their relationship, Lynn discovers she’s pregnant. Jack, believing Alice is firmly in his past, suggests he and Lynn get married and raise the baby together. Roughly a year goes by and Jack, Lynn, and baby Celia are living a normal, quiet, happy life. But in time, the whirlwind that is Alice appears out of nowhere and blows apart Jack and Lynn’s new life.

 

CLIP

Jack: This doesn’t have to be a catastrophe.

Lynn: Oh, no it does. Do you really think that I could wake up tomorrow morning, or any morning, and feel happy, or safe, or fully loved, or anything other than angry?

 

As the years roll on and Alice and Jack cycle through periods together and apart, Lynn keeps the whole situation at a safe distance. Now divorced from Jack, she crafts a new life for herself with a man named Mark, and sees Jack only when necessary to coordinate pickups and drop-offs with Celia. As difficult as it may be, Lynn and Jack figure out how to work together as divorced co-parents.

In time, Jack develops a heart condition that lands him in the hospital. With no one else to turn to — particularly because Alice is dealing with her own health crisis — he asks Lynn to accompany him. And it’s in this moment at the hospital that despite everything that’s happened, we see they still deeply care for each other.

 

CLIP

Jack: Thanks for letting me ruin your week.

Lynn: Yeah, well, we circle the wagon Cyril. How’re you feeling?

Jack: Grand. It’s probably just stress.

Lynn: Yeah, yeah exactly. I’m sure we’ll see. How’s Alice?

 

This week, we talk with actor Aisling Bea about how Lynn manages to keep her head above water despite the chaos and unpredictability of Alice and Jack.

 

Jace Lacob: And this week we are joined by Alice & Jack star Aisling Bea. Welcome.

Aisling Bea: Hello. How are you? Hello, America.

Jace Lacob: Hello, Ireland and the UK.

Aisling Bea: Oh, thank you very much. We receive you gratefully.

Jace Lacob: You are an actor, a writer, a comedian. You are on the stage, in TV and film, panel shows, podcasts, social media. You might be, I think, possibly one of the most prolific actors of our time. You’re coming off a very physical performance in the musical Greatest Days. Given that, what was it about Alice & Jack that then tempted you to sign on?

Aisling Bea: Oh, probably because it was the opposite. You know, that was a literal big cheesy song and dance affair. And I just missed maybe the nuance of something. And so we were actually filming Greatest Days, I think in a scene in the airport where we were sort of cheesily smiling to a soundtrack and being like, da da da! And I got this audition through. And I’d had a good year or so of being offered parts, which is absolutely lovely and a privilege, like, when you get to the stage where you’re offered something. But there is something about auditioning for a part where there’s a little bit of work involved that makes you feel like you’ve decided you really want to do it.

Despite some of the types of things I do, I’m a lot more of an artsy person than you might think. And there was something so artsy about this project and I loved the idea of doing something still. And my favorite type of acting is kind of similar to the stuff I write as a sort of comedy drama writer, which is stillness and two to three characters sitting around talking. And when I auditioned for this, I was like, oh, I love the degree of stillness in this. And Domhnall and I had known who each other was for years, Domhnall Gleeson, who’s the lead, and is the Jack of Alice & Jack.

And we’d recently become friends. Like, properly in the sort of like, how are you, we had each other’s numbers type of thing. But we’d known of each other for years and sort of circled around each other, as most Irish people do. And the idea that Domhnall was doing this as well, I was like, oh, that felt a little bit like Kismet. And it has felt a bit like Kismet, I really fell in friend love. I’d known Domhnall’s partner already, but I really fell in friend love with Domhnall doing this job. And it sits as a very special memory for me. And when I got the part, I was like, yay! And I felt good I had worked for it as well, you know?

Jace Lacob: So you mentioned Domhnall. Also among the cast, Academy Award nominee, Andrea Riseborough, who I hear made your first day particularly memorable?

Aisling Bea: Yeah, you know, it’s, it’s funny, on my first day I’d been really worn down and I was a bit down in the dumps in life, and I started on a Sunday, and I just sort of again, went into it maybe a bit like, oh, well, another day at work. And in the car, she had Post-its. And I’ve known who she is for years and she’s one of the best actresses, and she was an exec producer as was Domhnall on this job and she didn’t need to do this at all, but it’s something I’d done on my show, I don’t see many producer-y people do, but she left Post-its all over the car saying like, I can’t believe we have you! Well done! Amazing! Love you!

And then when I got into the dressing room, she had Post-its on my mirror. And I cannot tell you the degree to which that just made my month, it was really huge. And it was from someone I really respected as well, but it was a human sort of kindness that had nothing to do with work or networking or like, I’m not of any value to her. Do you know what I mean? It just felt like a very kind thing to do from someone who didn’t even know me. And it was just one of those things that was just really gorgeous and it is a testament to who she is as a person as well.

Jace Lacob: I love that. We first meet Lynn in episode one of Alice & Jack when we learn that the titular pair have gone their separate ways. Jack now has a wife and a daughter and he has a life without Alice. When you were reading that first script, what did you make of Lynn as a character?

Aisling Bea: Well, I love the women who don’t get their own movie in the story. And I love bringing nuance to characters, which often get like, you know, there’s a problem with how gender is written generally among many other things like race, sexuality and everything in scripts generally. There’s a real darth of nuance with a lot of characters who fall into cartoonish tropes. And I’ll nearly always have a word with writers and stuff like that about like, oh, this is a bit on the nose. Can we change this? Or can we add a joke here to flesh out a character? Because it’s something I’m quite passionate about because television and stories have a great way of helping people understand their own psyche or what’s going on.

So with Lynn, I was like, oh, this character can be, I can’t believe you [love] someone else. Goodbye, Jack. You know, it can be that if you want to play it that way, but I love the idea, which I know doesn’t sound very ambitious, but I actually love playing supporting characters. First of all, you don’t have the pressure of holding the whole thing together. Second of all, you’re not tired. I remember the first time I was actually a lead in something was my own show. And I was like, oh my God, I wrote myself into every scene. I’m so stupid. There’s no time for lunch. What have I done? It’s actually like, heavy is the head who wears a crown type of thing.

And I love playing the supporting character where I was like, oh, I’m going to give her some jokes. I’m going to give her some edges. And I think for me being a writer as well, I suppose, my idea would always be, make it difficult for them to decide who’s who. Like, give the audience too many oh no, you should have gone with her, or what about that? And that’s always an interesting, fun thing to play as well.

Jace Lacob: I love the fact that she does sort of throw off the audience’s expectations of what a side or supporting character is. She does exude this inner life of her own. And unlike a lot of TV characters, she exists even when she’s not on screen. And I think you worked so well to give her this sense that she is the hero of her own story, even if we don’t get to see all of it.

Aisling Bea: I mean, I will say that Vic Levin, who wrote the show and the producers let me as well. And so, Vic allowed me to sort of flesh it out and allowed myself and Domhnall to have a little bit of improv here and there and find what was a natural chemistry. Because when you write something, there’s a version that’s in your head, then there’s a version you cast, then there’s a version you film, and then there’s a version you edit. And I know from a writing point of view, like, I still haven’t learned that, that, oh my God, you’ve finally got your script finished. Yay. And the degree to which it changes and becomes a collaboration or everyone’s thing or doesn’t, is such a learning curve that you can only learn by being in it.

So I’m always aware of, if you want to change something that that can actually be, someone’s just tired and heartbroken. They’re like, oh God, I worked for ages on that line. But I love when someone’s like, ooh, great, this is finally me not having to do it on my own, because it’s very lonely writing.

Or, you know, accents or whatever it is, when people are in something, that I love when writers allow the actors to sort of have that level of, okay, so can I help you with this, because I think I know what you’re trying to get, you know?

Jace Lacob: And that was a pitch to call it Alice & Jack & Lynn, I imagine.

Aisling Bea: Oh no, just Lynn. I’m just Lynn! Yeah, it was my big pitch. But, Vic didn’t go for that one.

Jace Lacob: The first scene with Lynn and Jack to me is so brilliant because it sets up not only the intimacy between these two but the stakes, that this is a real life that they’re having. And Lynn in that scene is presented as being strong, smart, funny, and really an ideal spouse. I love her sort of “Toast? Plain toast? Yeah.” after he’s burning the sausages while she teases him about his ex and she’s bouncing his baby daughter around.

Aisling Bea: Yeah. And what I wanted to play in that scene was like the degree to which she’s fine with an ex calling that the audience will know she shouldn’t be fine, but she’s so like, oh my God, hilarious. Rather than to play, there’s a version of playing it, I suppose mysterious, where you’re like, who’s Alice? Who’s Alice?! But the degree to which you would want to think from a tension point of view that she doesn’t know a truck is driving towards her, creates more tension than me being super mysterious about it all.

Jace Lacob: Jack has his moments where he can tell Lynn who Alice is and what she means to him. And the first really comes in this scene where he does downplay their relationship and simply describes her as his ex.

 

CLIP

(Phone ringing)

Lynn: Lovey?

Jack: Yep?

Lynn: Who’s Alice?

Jack: Alice? She’s an ex.

Lynn: Oh, she’s an ex. Oh no. Do you want to take it?

Jack: Nah.

Lynn: Nah?

 

Jace Lacob: Do you think had Jack come clean here, or earlier when Lynn learned she’s pregnant with Celia, they could have perhaps saved their marriage, had he just been honest?

Aisling Bea: Yes, I do. I think anything, I think honesty, anything’s mountable when you talk about it and when you open it, and this is us going into TED Talk territory, I’m aware, but in terms of this being very much a relationship driven thing, I think secrets and lack of trust, once that’s broken, are very hard to rebuild. And it’s embarrassing. And the stakes for someone saying yes, when you’re having a baby, like the genderedness of that sort of emotional cowardice, the stakes are so huge and gendered and it’s one of those things where generally the idea of ghosting or people not telling someone is a version of hiding or lying or not telling someone because they’re afraid of the fallout or they’re afraid of upsetting people.

But by being afraid to upset people, it’s sort of like adding more weight to something that’s coming their way anyways. And I think as a society we’re afraid to upset people in the moment rather than give them the benefit of allowing them the full information to sort of go on things and manage information. I think that’s what happens here. Maybe he doesn’t want to admit it to himself or…

There’s also an element of when someone knows, I don’t think at any point Domhnall really, or Jack rather, really thinks, “Alice is great for me.” It’s just this sort of addictive love that’s different. And I think most of us, it’s like that thing when you’re with the wrong guy and you know what your friend’s going to say so you don’t tell them. It’s that sort of feeling, except this is his ex, or this is his current wife who he should be telling, you know? It’s him dancing with fire.

Jace Lacob: That’s precisely it, I think, and he knows that. He knows that and he’s not going to tempt fate by telling her about it.

Aisling Bea: Yes.

Jace Lacob: We see Jack and Lynn’s first meeting in their early dating through Jack’s eyes. And those scenes are presented as flashbacks, but they’re also narrated in a way by Jack to Alice. And I’m curious whether you think that Lynn might have a different perspective on these events than the way Jack presents them to Alice.

Aisling Bea: Oh, would the woman who he left and got pregnant and married have a different perspective on his point of view? No, probably on the same page. Absolutely not. No, let me tell you, I think he’d be destroyed by Lynn’s very accurate portrayal of what actually happened. And she could probably, in a couple of concise sentences, that’s what I really liked about the character that even when she decides to stand up for herself, without giving any spoilers, there’s an air of true surety that I’m not sure I would have in those situations, which I think is kind of a beautiful thing that it’s like, let me tell you this much, sir.

And that has the ability to destroy someone when they know it’s real, and it’s coming from a very direct, blunt place, rather than smashing a phone with a hammer. But yeah, I think everyone’s narration of the situation would be very, very different to Jack’s.

Jace Lacob: Your delivery in these early scenes is a thing of beauty. Your lines crackle.

Aisling Bea: Aww.

Jace Lacob: They do! Your lines crackle with this inherent Aisling Bea energy. They’re tossed off, rather like—

Aisling Bea: Big Bea energy!

Jace Lacob: Big Bea energy. They’ve got Big Bea energy. They’re tossed off like rather witty bon mots, but Lynn’s humor conceals something deeper. She’s funny, but she’s not sunny, and she’s smart, but she’s not a show off. Do you connect with the character on a deeper level than just—

Aisling Bea: On those two things, no, because I think I present as sunny and a show off, but I think I do strive to see people with more humor in dramas. I think there’s a real lack of where has all the humor gone? And the idea that we would throw out humor, especially in any element of like how we flirt, how we date, how we are romantically, humor is such a massive part of that. And Irish people, especially these two characters, you couldn’t deny a whole cultural language if we were going to put me and Domhnall together and neither of us doing accents.

If I was playing English in this, which there was never any real discussion of, maybe I wouldn’t put too much humor into it. That’s not saying that English people aren’t funny. Everyone chill out. It’s more saying that an English person and Irish person meeting together for the first time have a very different fizzle than what immediately happens culturally when two Irish people meet. So that quality had to be there in the meet cute. And it would be a waste of myself and Domhnall’s chemistry as pals not to have it in there, I feel, as well. And you want to make the most out of all the ingredients you’ve been given, I think.

 

MIDROLL

 

Jace Lacob: Lynn has a deeper understanding of Seven Beauties than Jack does.

 

CLIP

Lynn: I think what the director is saying, she says that it should make emotional, rather than logical sense, so.

Jack: That’s all the best things maybe.

Lynn: Yeah, maybe. All I know is that it just reaches into my chest and moves my lungs around. I love it.

 

Jace Lacob: Is this a meta commentary on the nature of love itself, that it isn’t always logical, but inherently emotional?

Aisling Bea: I think it’s more of a commentary, and maybe Vic would be the person to ask this, on the show rather than love. It’s that sort of like, it doesn’t make any logical sense, and that’s the worst thing when you’re the other person. That you’re like, I’m the logical choice, choose logic! And I’ve been that girl before where I’m like, choose logic! But I know I can see the way you look at the other person that logic doesn’t live here anymore. Which is not a song that ever got released, but I feel should, logic doesn’t live here anymore. And that’s a heartbreaking thing because your clever brain knows when you see someone’s eyes light up around someone else, and that’s essentially what this is a story of, is that it’s love over logic, I suppose.

So I think it’s more a commentary on that, but I like that quality of Lynn that is maybe different to me, which is that she would go and watch that film very confidently, come out and be able to take the piss out of him, but also talk genuinely about her feelings on it. And I think if that was me, I’d be a lot more, ah, look, sure, I never, I accidentally bought the wrong thing too, da da da da. And you would hide how much you enjoy serious arthouse films. So, I love that quality about her character and that was a little bit of work finding that for me, how she would sort of say how much she loved it without a gag and it was a nice little thing to sort of sit with that type of person who doesn’t… she’s funny but she doesn’t need to make jokes, which I suppose is quite different to myself and Domhnall too. Domhnall is a good old gag smith, he’s a very, very funny person.

Jace Lacob: Which begs the question. So, what is Domhnall like as a scene partner? What did he bring to these shared scenes?

Aisling Bea: Oh, gorgeous. So happy and brilliant. You know what it is? Domhnall seemed to have an unending amount of energy for each scene that he was doing. And if I was struggling with something, I was very aware that he had, you know, shoot days don’t happen in order, as I’m sure you well know. But for anyone listening, like, because of locations, which are the priority when you’re shooting, you could be doing like, “you’re dead, Henry.” “Oh, it’s the best day of my life.” “Ah, I’m about to be attacked by a zombie” all in one day. And the next day you just keep on going into shops going “coffee, please.” And you’re like, oh, could you not have split these up? And the answer is no, because of locations and budgeting and filming. And it’s a lot less artistic when you’re making stuff.

And I’m very aware of the fact that Domhnall had reams of lines and dialogue and really emotional full on scenes, and they had so much weight to carry, the two of them, and Domhnall would still stop and give me the time, which he didn’t need to do. And it wasn’t just because we’re pals. It was like, I can see that’s what type of actor he is, that he just cared about every scene in a really artsy way. And he must get a lot of energy from caring about each project. And that he would give me so much time, it was a really lovely thing.

And the atmosphere on set was particularly lovely. We had two great directors, Juho Kuosmanen, who was the director I mostly worked with, and Hong Khaou who, I only did one scene with him, who was also very dry and funny, and they were both really dry witted and made loads of room for humor. And I found that such a relief and a lovely way to work because you’re never worried. You don’t have to walk around a drama like it’s a funeral. You can still have a laugh and then decide to go into your scenes. And I really value that way of working because it feels a lot more collaborative with the crew.

There was a real camaraderie when we were making this. And afterwards, you know, I hadn’t gone to the pub with crew members in so long, not because nobody invites me, but because we weren’t allowed with COVID and because we shot this in the summer, and I think you can see that reflected in how beautiful London looks in the show. It had been so long since we’d been allowed to do that and it, I suppose, showed me what we’d really missed about work, but you were always afraid to complain about it because you were working during the pandemic. But actually the bit of the job, feeling good and going home, feeling like you’d been at work with a nice group of people, I didn’t realize how essential that was to my mental health.

And after this, sometimes we’d go for a pint or something on the Friday or the Saturday when we’d wrap with the other crew members and stuff. And I just missed that and it was just so nice because it just allows a little release valve on what you’re doing, you know?

Jace Lacob: They end up staying together, she gets pregnant with Celia. She sees on television where he is, that he’s with Alice, after claiming he was going to Kent to see a pregnant woman with syphilis. And it is this huge sense of betrayal and compounding that is the scene where he does tell her the truth that he’s thought about Alice a hundred percent of the days that he and Lynn have been together. Is this when a lie would have perhaps been kinder?

Aisling Bea: No, I don’t think so. I think he’s stupid in how he phrases it, in that does he have to say “100 percent of the days”? But that brutal honesty, I think he knows the only gift left he can give this person who he does love and respects more than anything, not just loves but respects, is full honesty. And I would expect the same, hard as it is, it means there are no more surprises coming. Because if I have a big discussion with someone and then I have to keep on finding out stuff, again, your trust is broken. So she can make a full decision for her own life. And that’s about the only autonomy he gives her back, is by being so honest.

Jace Lacob: And then what a moment you get as Lynn.

 

CLIP

Jack: I don’t… we shouldn’t be rushing into any decisions

Lynn: Oh, my friend. Hear me. I may be less experienced than you in the wonders of love, but I do know one thing. And that is that I am nobody’s consolation prize.

 

Jace Lacob: It is this moment of profound inner strength on Lynn’s part. What does she feel here, and how satisfying was it to smash Jack’s mobile with that meat mallet?

Aisling Bea: It was satisfying, but we’d also had a really long day. We did two days back to back with good baby scenes and then bad baby scenes. And the good baby scenes were all very loving. And then we did all the bad baby scenes. And I don’t say ‘bad baby’ that the baby was bad, but as an actor, the baby came to set with a bit of an attitude the second day.

Jace Lacob: Diva.

Aisling Bea: And I think it was, you know, yeah, I think it’s like, the agent had told them that this was a big deal and that they were like, you say we’re bigger than the project or something like that. But myself and Domhnall had had a really tough day with a crying baby. And because they got a young baby to play the baby, it wasn’t secretly Daniel Day-Lewis or anything like that, the baby was played by a baby. That baby was crying and the mother was so lovely. She didn’t mind. But as a person holding someone else’s baby, knowing what you’re doing is making a baby cry, just standing and not letting it be with his mother, it’s very viscerally upsetting.

Now, in hindsight, that was probably great to get us to the evening’s scene, because I was really tired and felt like I’d done something wrong, but I knew I hadn’t. The baby was fine, the mother was fine, but I felt like I’d hurt a baby. And so I was like, ahhhh and I was ready for a couple of crying scenes. I was like, yeah, hit me up, hit me up.

And so that’s the one that was sort of at least Juho, who was the director, led us a lot of times to kind of play around with it and stuff like that within reason. And Domhnall was a really great scene partner as well, just with that. Because I do find, having ADHD, when I’m doing scenes that require focus and big wordy scenes, or you have to stay in something. When you’re that upset in a scene it’s like your body doesn’t want you to be upset and wants to try and calm you down. And the key with doing emotional scenes is trying to work out how to stay in it when someone yells cut, and you might have to do it 15 times.

And then there’s like, okay, can we step in? Can we check it for makeup? Okay. The camera’s going to go over there. Okay. There. Oh, hello. How’s your weekend? Are you looking forward to it? Oh yeah, great. And you’re hearing all this stuff and you’re like, just remember your heartbroken. Just remember you’re heartbroken. Aisling, can I get you a cup of tea? Would you like a biscuit? I have a really nice biscuit for you. I’d love a biscuit. Thank you. Are you okay? No, I’m just trying to stay in the scene. So there’s a lot of that stuff, especially when you have ADHD, which is quite like, you either stay in it so hyper focusedly, or it can be really hard not to feel like you’re faking it. And once you sort of feel like you’re faking the moment, it’s hard to know what to hold on to. And then you’re trying to go, do you remember the time everyone in the world died?

So that sort of scene in terms of the satisfaction of it as an actor when you feel like you’ve done it well or you found a potential truth, that always feels good if you feel like you service the writing and the other actor, like you did your good work. But I don’t know that you ever feel like that because again, you’re breaking it up. You’re doing it from different angles. You don’t know how they’re going to edit it together as well as the other thing. But, Domhnall again, even when the camera wasn’t on Domhnall, he’s so generous, he gives the same level of performance. And again, that’s not a given, and that’s not a show of anyone’s personality if they don’t do that, because you have to conserve your energy.

If the camera’s not on you, you can’t be just like bawling, crying all the time. But you want to give a hint of everything that you do to the other actor. But he was so generous when the camera wasn’t on him, which I think is just a sign of, you know, and again he had just like reams of work and days ahead of him still and it’s just a sign of how lovely and gorgeous he is and why he’s so beloved as an actor I think.

Jace Lacob: So by the time episode five comes along, Lynn and Jack have repaired a lot of the burned bridges between them. And Lynn goes so far as to accompany Jack to Dr. Pell’s office.

 

CLIP

Lynn: You know, I’m good and over you Jack, I can promise you that. But it doesn’t mean I don’t love you. And it doesn’t mean I don’t want you wandering the earth making someone else miserable.

 

Jace Lacob: How did you read this scene between the two of them in the doctor’s office? And what does Lynn’s support to Jack mean here?

Aisling Bea: I suppose there’s an element of, I think Lynn is the biggest adult in the whole show. And it is definitely not always how I would react to things. But I think it shows, which again, it comes back to my initial point about like, the women who do something that’s not gotten its Saving Private Ryan movie. But that’s the heroic type of emotional heroism. That’s kind of like, for the sake of our child, I will be kind to you and actually look after you in a way you’ve never looked after me. And that’s emotional maturity. That’s a sort of hero quality that she doesn’t ask for a medal for. And I kind of like when those stories of those women are reflected.

Jace Lacob: So, I’ve been listening to you on, on this podcast, your voice has been described by your voiceover agent, and I’m going to quote here, as, “Rich with a gentle huskiness. Trustworthy. Full of character with impeccable comic timing.” How comfortably do you wear that description? Is that Aisling?

Aisling Bea: I’ve never read my voiceover page. I move forward quite fast with my work. And I live in the past very much with my personal decisions and pain, but there’s no in between like being present. And so I don’t, especially if I’m coming up with stuff in the moment, I don’t really think about stuff. So, I mean, you tell me. The thing is with your own voice, you can’t hear yourself can you? For me, I always thought I sounded like an old English man and I hate the sound of my voice. Like I can’t believe it.

And what’s crept in as well, I’ve been in England, I used to live about six months of the year in America. Then since the pandemic, that hasn’t really been happening, just, you know, the world and the industry has changed. But I’ve definitely noticed if I ever hear smidgens of myself on things, the odd word has definitely become Anglicized and I’m like, oh my God, where did that come from? And I don’t understand my own accent. And I mean, you’re probably laughing at that because you probably think I have a very Irish accent. But the degree to which it’s changed in the 10 years of living in a different country is so mad to me. It’s, my ‘oh’s’ sound like this, ‘oh’, instead of like, ‘oh’, and the way I used to speak. And that’s, that’s a really weird thing to straddle with as an identity, that you lose bits and you’re like, oh, do I belong more here or there or…?

Jace Lacob: Yeah, I was going to say, obviously your time filming Living With Yourself in New York has made you sound like a Manhattanite.

Aisling Bea: Thank you. And I feel that is the truth that we’ve been dancing around, is that you’re like, you say you’re Irish, but you sound like you’re a Manhattan socialite. I love living in New York. Oh, my God, I’ve missed it so much. Those were some of my happiest days, actually, we’re doing especially the start of filming Living With Yourself. And it was such a surprise to me to get that job. I did not expect to get it at all. I’ve never been the person who was like, they loved you and they want you to fly you to New York for a chemistry read, like in all of my career. That still hasn’t happened since. That was the only time that’s ever happened.

And it was like a dream. And then I got to move to New York about four weeks later in the autumn. And it was just such a gorgeous start. And that whole period is some of the happiest times of my life, definitely. And living in New York and doing standup in between filming scenes. And again, not being the lead, Paul was the lead. And then he was also the second lead because he played two versions of himself.

Jace Lacob: But finally, Aisling Bea, what, what is next for you?

Aisling Bea: What is next that I can talk about? Oh, I have a little comedy coming out here called Avoidance with Romesh Ranganathan that will be out I think in the next couple of weeks. But then one job that I’m really excited about that I finished filming in Finland, which is all very, finished filming in Finland as a bit of a tongue twister, is a movie called Svalta with Nick Frost. And it’s got Sebastian Croft in it from Heartstopper, who’s my baby angel. And Maisie Ayres, who’s a brilliant up and coming actress. And it’s basically sort of a horror comedy. And I don’t know when that will be out. I hope it’s this year because we filmed it last summer. But that’s the thing, you make something and you’re like, woo hoo, can’t wait for people to see it. And then, especially with film, it’s out like a year and a half later. And you’re like, what was that? Was that a fever dream?

Jace Lacob: Did I make that? Did I do that?

Aisling Bea: Am I in that? That sounds good. So I’m quite excited about that, but we don’t know who’s going to pick it up or show it or all the rest of it yet. That’s that. And then I’ve started writing a new show. God bless me. God bless my stress and adrenaline levels. But I have. And so that’s TBC.

Jace Lacob: Ooh.

Aisling Bea: Ooh.

Jace Lacob: Ooh. Aisling Bea, thank you so very much.

 

Next time, Alice’s condition worsens, and Jack pays her a visit in the hospital. 

 

CLIP

Alice: No more flowers.

Jack: It’s a standing order I’m afraid.

Alice: Yeah, just save your money and buy a small island.

Jack: Are you hungry?

Alice: No but thank you.

 

Join us next week as we talk with Alice herself, actor Andrea Riseborough, about the final episode of Alice & Jack, and look back on the series as a whole.