Nabbed this off digital spy, great site that! I can't wait for episode 6 tomorrow! Jenny Lewis is officially back! Well, for one episode anyways, and then the final! Anyway, here it is:
When we last saw Primeval's Jenny Lewis back in series three, she had turned her back on life in the ARC following a near-death encounter with a flesh-eating fungus creature! In this week's installment, Connor and Abbey run into their old friend, who has been keeping busy since her departure. We recently caught up with actress Lucy Brown to chat about Jenny's return, fighting off a rampaging Hyaenadon and the possibility of a comeback for her other Primeval character, Claudia Brown.
A quick warning - a few mild spoilers lie ahead...
What can you tell us about Jenny's return in this week's Primeval?"Basically it's a complete coincidence and the team stumble upon her, on possibly one of the most important days of her life! Being a Primeval character, you can run, but you can't hide. Once you're in, you're in, no matter how hard you try to get out! So they literally bump into her in the basement of a stately home and it's the day before her wedding."
Do we find out what Jenny's been up to since she left the show?"Absolutely. When she left in series three, it was to go and try and pursue a normal life of sorts, and revert to what she was just before we met her in series two. It's P.R. and back to that more glamorous life, and now she's engaged to a musician. Of course, running into Abby and Connor, old feelings are brought to the surface and there are conversations about Nick and the ARC. She never wanted to forget anybody, she just wanted to take control of her life again."
How did your return to the show come about?"When Jenny left in series three, I had almost immediately a conversation with [co-creator] Adrian [Hodges] about the possibility of coming back for series four. Then of course, Primeval seemed to have been cancelled, which was very sad all round. But then I was very unsurprised when people rallied around to get it back on the air. Pretty much as soon as that started to happen, I was talking to Adrian again, and because they had commissioned so much of the show in advance, it was a case of scheduling and making things work. Everyone had their fingers crossed that this episode could even happen! Luckily it did, which was great for all parties concerned."
How did it feel playing the character again?"It felt kind of the same, to be honest! As soon as I'm on the set with people like Andrew [Lee Potts] and Hannah [Spearritt], it feels like no time has passed. The first scene I shot for this episode is the first scene you see in this episode, when Andrew and I bump into each other. We were all in the make-up trailer chatting away. On-set, it was just immediate and like no time had passed whatsoever. Especially with Andrew and Hannah, who are very dear friends of mine, we have a kind of short-hand with each other, which makes things terribly easy! You just sort of get on with it, have fun together and it all comes alive."
Did the show feel any different because of the recent cast changes?"Well, it was difficult, because I was in a more contained part of it. I literally was just working with Andrew and Hannah, and a bit of Ciaran [McMenamin] and the new character of Emily (Ruth Bradley), who pops up in my episode as well. Generally though I was just with Andrew and Hannah, and I wasn't in the ARC. I had nothing to do with that, so all of those new elements didn't really affect me. I was just with my mates again!"
Did it take a while to get used to performing with CGI effects again?"No! Once it's in your blood, it's in your blood. I think it's been so many years of doing this now that you know what's expected and you know what you have to do. We're so used to it now. Also, CGI is used in so much nowadays. Halfway through last year, I was doing a TV movie out in Europe with Dean Cain and that was all CGI creatures. I'm just the monster girl! I can do a really good terrified face for nothing! But it's so much part of the business now that it's good to have this training. It's very helpful."
How did you feel when the show was originally axed, given that you'd already left at that point?"I was sad for it, because it's such a massive part of my life and has been for many years. I felt sorry for it, although I thought the work we'd done up till then was excellent. I thought for a show in that timeslot on Saturday night, it was an excellent piece of entertainment and I think it was sad to lose it. However, as I said, I was unsurprised that it was so quickly rescued. We are now completely global. We have fan-mail that comes in from all over the world, so when people came from other countries to offer a helping hand, I was unsurprised."
Would you like to make another guest appearance at some point?"Always. I have such a wonderful relationship with both Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges. I've always said to them since series three, if the schedule's permitting on both sides, I will always pick up the phone to Primeval. I'll always try and make it work. It was a big part of my life."
Would you ever consider coming back to the show full-time?"That's very difficult to answer, what with my own personal life and my working life that runs alongside things like Primeval. It would just depend on what was going on there and then, when it was happening. In my heart, I love the show and I would hope to be part of it in some way. It would just totally depend on the circumstances in which that situation arose."
Some Primeval fans are still hoping for some resolution with..."Claudia?"
Exactly! Would you still like to possibly explore that in the future?"I would love to. I think it was made very difficult when Douglas [Henshall] left, because that would be the main reason to bring Claudia back. So much has happened since then. But it's amazing because when I get approached on the street, they never say 'You're Jenny Lewis', they all say 'You played Claudia Brown'! I did for one series, I've now done three series as Jenny! Even my own father asks, 'When are you bringing Claudia back?' I tell him, 'Dad, it's out of my control. Get over her!' But I'd love to do it. We joked on the last day of shooting that we could do a spin-off. Get Douglas back on and we'll do a whole Claudia and Cutter show in some weird timeline somewhere! A whole spinoff of her trying to find him. But I think the situation as it stands, with Douglas's character Cutter no longer with us, makes it hard for Claudia to come back. I'd love to resolve the storyline. She was obviously a strong character and made a very strong impression on people. But for now, Jenny is here!"
