Hermione Norris has been such a huge presence on our tellies for so many years now that it’s slightly surreal to meet her in person. And she’s about to spend four nights this week in our living rooms once again, starring in Innocent, ITV’s big new drama.
But she’s used to appearing in iconic TV programmes. Especially Cold Feet, which made a triumphant return in 2016. ‘It feels bigger than you, it’s a machine,’ she says of the show that broke her career, explaining the sheer scale of it when describing one scene they filmed with a ‘massive set, beautiful lighting and masses of extras – and it’s all there for us to say three lines’.
In contrast, Hermione herself is terribly low-key. We meet in an office at ITV headquarters, just before she disappears up to Manchester for a long stint filming the next series of Cold Feet, leaving screenwriter husband Simon, son Wilf, 13, and daughter Hero, 10, down south. Ever so softly-spoken and unassuming, the fresh-faced 51-year-old actress is measured in how she speaks and doesn’t waste words, or give too much of herself – but she’s very likeable.
She’s svelte, looks exactly as she does on screen, and is sophisticated and classy in real life too. Then, just when you think she’s really rather serious, she’ll suddenly say something you wouldn’t expect to come out of her mouth – like the fact she ‘relished going straight onto Innocent after Cold Feet, but that she did absolutely jack sh*t for ages after it finished’. Definitely someone we can relate to.
She talks playing strong women, being parted from her children, and the genuine joys of being in her 50s…
Tell us more about Innocent…
It’s about a guy who served seven years in jail for killing his wife and is released on a technicality. I play Alice, his dead wife’s sister, who has taken custody of his children. They are her family, her life, her absolute reason for being. Their world is sent into chaos and confusion.
It’s a massive is-he, isn’t-he-guilty situation all the way through the episodes, isn’t it?
It’s going to keep us guessing. I didn’t know who it was for ages. I was like, ‘Am I the red herring?’ Everybody involved is called into question.
Does Alice actually have any thoughts he might be innocent?
Her sister told her she had a violent relationship with him, so she’s unable to open up her mind to the possibility of his innocence. And she has so much to lose. I get it, oh my God, when you’ve got children, you’re a lioness over them.
How do you cope being away from your own kids when you’re working?
I was so old when I had kids, they’re still quite little, really, and it's hard to be apart from them. A week is my absolute max without seeing them. Even that’s tough, but I’m lucky that I’m married to somebody who’s able to be very present. We take it in turns. Simon is a brilliant dad and he’s incredibly supportive. I know my children are OK. If I didn’t feel that I just wouldn’t be able to do it.
What do you feel guilty about?
God, everything. I’m a mother. It’s impossible. Everything falls apart all the time, nothing works.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Chocolate, chips and watching The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Channel. It’s just brilliant, terrible cooking with so much butter and fat and cream. Simon comes in and goes, ‘You’re not watching lna, are you?’ Such mindless television.
What are you most guilty of?
Worrying. Waking up in the middle of the night. Worry, worry, worry. I’m also a terrible singer. I have to sing an Adele song to my on-screen daughter in Innocent. To be fair, it’s not proper singing. If I had to do proper singing I think ITV would probably lose a lot of viewers. It was about the intimacy between two characters and not the singing itself. Singing is not my strength.
Do the kids watch you on telly?
I’ll watch before it goes out, quietly on my own, have a little look. I can’t watch with my family, it’s just not what we do – ‘Oh, let’s all sit down and watch me.’ My husband will be like, ‘Er, no’, and the kids do not want to watch mum snogging someone. Hero did watch something and was like, ‘God, what are you doing, Mum? Did you really have to do that?’ It’s just all a bit confusing when you’re 10, isn’t it?
You don’t seem very showbiz…
Twenty odd years ago when we started out on Cold Feet, celebrity wasn’t such a thing. But it’s not something I think about. I’m just me, at home like every other mum, doing the school run, head down in it all. That’s probably how I cope, by not focusing on it. There’s no rock ’n’ roll activity, I’m afraid to say.
Do you get recognised a lot?
There are a lot more selfies. I just don’t understand the whole social media thing, it’s not for my generation. I still don’t have Twitter, I’m completely intimidated by it. But I’m going to have to get more up to speed dealing with teenagers.
How are you finding life in your 50s?
There’s a big build-up to it and you’re going, ‘Oh my God, how did that happen?’ But it’s just nice. I’ve always looked forward to being 50. I don’t know why. It’s taken me a long time to grow into myself.
What are the biggest positives about being in your 50s?
I definitely feel more comfortable in my own skin, and I don’t stress about what I can’t do anything about. And life is what it is. I’ve chosen my husband, I’ve got my children, I’ve had a big chunk of my career. It’s also a long time that you’ve journeyed with people. Even people you consider to be relatively new friends you think, ‘Blimey, actually I’ve known you for 20 years,’ and there is a really deep love for them.
You’re looking very fresh-faced, what are your secrets…
Lots of surgery… Anything you’ve got I’ll take it. It’s just your genetics, isn’t it? I can’t be bothered with cleansing diets and things like that. I’m too much of a quick-fix person.
What’s on your bucket list?
I just want to play more fantastic characters and connect with people. There’s nothing I want to do outside of acting. I like comedy, I like it all. And more Cold Feet – that’ll be it for the rest of my life!
How much say do you have over what happens to your characters?
You open up the page and you don’t know where you’re going to be led – and that’s a double-edged sword as an actor. But there are some things, like no bikinis. They wondered why Fay Ripley and I were a bit late about signing the contracts on Cold Feet, and we were like, ‘We’re handling the nudity clause.’
Are parts written for you now?
I do sometimes have to audition. I get really nervous. If I want a part and I have to peddle my wares, that never goes away. But if a part doesn’t make my heart sing in some way, I don’t bother – as a young actress, I’d go for it heart and soul, but I have had the fortune to have done a nice body of work. I’ve experienced all the things I was craving as a youngster, which is nice.
Hermione on Cold Feet...
‘People love Cold Feet because it is the ordinary. It’s about love, and you get to 50 and you realise, more than anything, that’s all there is at the end of the day. Before we came back I’d thought, “God, it should be left alone.” It was a difficult thing to deliver and the odds were stacked against us, it could clearly have gone wrong, which was more likely. I was nervous, but it was amazing, the warmth it was received with. I thought it’d be people who watched it before, but what is surprising to me is it’s got a whole new generation on board too.’
Innocent is on ITV, Monday-Thursday, 9pm. The DVD of the series is released on 21 May, £19.99