Death in Paradise actress Joséphine Jobert lifts the lid on what happens when the latest case takes a deeply personal turn for DS Florence Cassell - and reveals what she likes and dislikes about London...
DS Florence Cassell is rocked when an old school friend is murdered in Thursday's Death in Paradise…
DS Cassell normally doesn't let her personal life get in the way of her job as a police officer. She’s calm, professional, dedicated to her work and appears immune to the bumblings of DI Humphrey Goodman's and his haphazard love life.
But she's rocked when a body found at the bottom of a cliff turns out to be her old school friend Esther Monroe and the shock sends her into a tailspin! Here, French actress Joséphine Jobert reveals all…
What happens when Florence and Humphrey discover the body? "They find this girl who has been murdered and it turns out Florence went to school with her and was friends with her when she was a kid. Florence is more involved emotionally in the whole murder inquiry and it's hard for her to stay professional and not show too much emotion. She spends nights at the police station searching looking through case files to find the reason why Esther was murdered."
Do we see a different side to Florence? "Yes. It was different for me to be more emotional and show a different part of her. We don't know much about her family, but we find out more about her childhood and her friends. We see that she's not just a police officer, she's a real person with real feelings."
Florence works day and night to find out who murdered her friend...
How is she getting on with Humphrey this series? "She has a good friendship with him! He's got a new girlfriend and she's really happy about that – she encourages him and tells him to go for it!"
You've filmed in London as well as Guadaloupe this time, how did you find it? "I love London – just walking around the city, shopping in Oxford Street or Regent Street, and the parks. It's very different, though. There's the weather, of course, but it's also very noisy. In Guadaloupe we have church bells and cockerels, but here it's the planes and cars!"
Florence with the cast of Death in Paradise
Does Florence struggle with the English cuisine? "Not just Florence, but me! I got to have porridge in the hotel and it was okay, but I also tried pork scratchings and I'm not a fan. They're disgusting!"
Do you get recognised now? "In Paris I get recognised every day because I've done a lot of shows in France, but the first time I got recognised for this show was two years ago in Iceland and I was on top of a huge waterfall. I was freezing and there was a group of students and one of them said, 'Oh it’s the girl from Death in Paradise!' It was very weird. On Twitter, I also seem to have fans who are obsessed with my shorts – I don't know why!"
How do you find learning your lines in English? "It takes longer to learn them because I have to think about the accent, the rhythm and the pronunciation. Even after three years I still struggle with some words!"
Death in Paradise continues Thursdays at 9pm on BBC1.
