Helen George tells TV Times about the dark clouds looming over her Call the Midwife (BBC1, Sunday) character Trixie Franklin...
Tell us why Trixie has broken off her engagement to Tom...
"They’ve realised they maybe want different things out of life and they are both hurt. She loves him and he is good for her because he is solid but she doesn’t think she is good enough for him."
We discover life hasn't always been fun and fluffy for Trixie, so does she struggle with the break up?
"She hasn’t dealt with her childhood and now it’s not plain sailing with Tom, it kicks off a chain of events that has a deep emotional effect on her and she doesn’t cope. I always equated her happiness with her curves so there is also weight loss and she neglects herself.”
Did you enjoy playing out a harrowing storyline?
"I’ve been given lovely stuff and brilliant challenges. She’s always been the fun party girl, slightly superficial, but now you get under her skin and understand her more and she grows up.
“Whether viewers will take to it or not, I don’t know, but it has been a real journey as an actress.’
Is Call the Midwife still a special job for you?
"We’ve filmed for nearly four years now, so it feels like another leg of school especially because we are in uniform in an old house. It has opened up so many doors for me and it has taught me so much as an actress about learning how to work with one character over a sustained period of time.”
What are your ambitions for the future?
“The whole “British actors going off to America” thing is a cliché but there’s just so much more work on offer there. So that would be fantastic, as would carrying on doing great stuff here, both modern and period, and maybe doing a musical.”
What inspired you to take part in the London Marathon this year?
“I looked at losing weight for Call The Midwife, which I did healthily. I thought, if I don’t do a marathon now, when I am physically strong, I’ll never do it. I’m running for Macmillan Cancer Support, because they do so much great work and Jennifer Worth [on whose memoirs the show is based] died of cancer so it seemed to be a nice link.”
Has training been difficult?
“It’s horrible! It hurts and you find injuries in places you never knew you could get them!”
