Despite their volatile on-screen relationship in “The Lady,” Ed Speleers says working with co-star Mia McKenna Bruce had a “relaxed environment” and a “sense of camaraderie.”
The four-episode series, which is now streaming on BritBox, dramatizes the shocking real-life murder case, in which the former Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson’s (Natalie Dormer) former royal dresser, Jane Andrews (McKenna Bruce) was convicted of murdering her boyfriend, Cressman (Speleers).
The “You” alum told Page Six that having a rapport with McKenna-Bruce allowed for a “lovely way of working” where he didn’t “live in fear.”
He explained that their “relaxed vibe” off-screen allowed for the “good work to come through,” adding, “you weren’t trying to talk yourself out of trying to find the darkest corner of yourself.”
Andrews was convicted of murdering Cressman in 2001. Before making headlines for the crime, she worked for the former Duchess of York from 1988 to 1997.
The two women were no longer associated at the time of the murder, but the show depicts their close relationship in the years before.
Speleers told Page Six that “there was sensitivity” to the show’s dark subject matter.
The appeal of the show for him was “trying to understand human behavior and what can go wrong in a relationship.”
In the show, Jane and Tom often have explosive arguments. In the real life case, Andrews alleged that Cressman was abusive, but “The Lady” leaves that part of their relationship ambiguous.
It’s “our reimagining and our dramatization of things,” said Speleers.
Speleers is also known for playing footman Jimmy Kent in “Downton Abbey.”
“I had an amazing time working on that show, I met my wife there,” he said, referring to costume designer Asia Macey. “I felt I learned a lot in that job, and I quite often wistfully look back, it was almost like school days.”
He remembered the late Maggie Smith as being “really playful” and “so incredibly powerful.”
At the beginning of his career, Speleers got his start playing a farm boy who discovers a dragon egg in the 2006 movie “Eragon,” based on a popular fantasy book of the same name.
Similar to “Harry Potter,” which is getting a TV series reboot on HBO, there’s an “Eragon” TV series in development at Disney+.
“That was the first job I ever did. And I think that there is huge scope to play that whole series out on television. I’m really excited about it,” he said.
At 38, he’s too old to reprise the role of a farm boy, but if the TV show offered him a role, “Yeah, I would [do it] if it was the right thing,” he said.
Referring to the villain character, Galbatorix, played by John Malkovich in the movie, he quipped, “Maybe I could be the big nasty Galbatorix, which could be an interesting spin on everything.”
