A Woman of Substance star Jessica Reynolds: ‘You can’t be an actor and not be political’

“Do you think it was quite revolutionary for the time in terms of telling a female story like that?”

Jessica Reynolds was not yet born in January 1985 when A Woman of Substance aired, becoming the most talked-about drama of its day and bagging Channel 4 its biggest-ever drama audience. But she’s keen to know how it stood out over 40 years ago. Because she is centre stage in the remake. 

And she could not be better cast in the new eight-part adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s bestseller about the young Emma Harte’s rise from her lowly beginnings to wealthy business tycoon (played here in the flash-forward scenes, by Brenda Blethyn). 

Because, like her on-screen alter-ego, Reynolds has big ideas and lots to say, with an outsider edge that fits in well on Channel 4. 

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“I love Channel 4,” she grins. “I grew up on their shows like Skins and My Mad Fat Diary. They’re brave enough to tell stories other people don’t want to tell. They make marginalised people feel seen and go outside the box to tell bold stories. That’s what TV should be for.

“This is telling a story set in 1911 about a woman who becomes completely self-made and uses her trauma and turns that into something. It’s inspirational for anyone at any stage of their life in any era. It’s important for working-class people to be represented because most period dramas are still about aristocrats. I was shocked to be cast – period drama leading ladies are usually flawless. And I don’t see myself like that. I usually play chaotic, messy characters. Let us be messy and still be loved!”

In the series, Emma Harte begins working as a maid at the Fairley family’s big house in Yorkshire, before fleeing, when pregnant with the youngest son’s child out of wedlock – quite the drama in those days. She navigates complex relationships (and a few windswept love shacks), but eventually establishes a business, fuelled by a desire for revenge against the Fairleys. 

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There is great triumph. But Reynolds also notes the loss. “She escapes from poverty – and that’s a necessity. Basic needs must be met. Brilliant. But then, when you go to the extreme of being a millionaire, there’s such a deep loneliness to her in the 1970s,” says Reynolds. 

“Once you reach that position, you lose community, you are so far from your roots. Then what are you left with? So it’s inspirational but it’s also a warning. It’s just something I think about a lot. Can you transcend class? You can change your accent, change your circles, be viewed a certain way. But are you still the person you started off as? 

“It’s fascinating. I was playing Emma for four months. So I went from grounded, earthy Yorkshire to a posher version, more of a façade of herself, overnight. It felt wrong to me. Having to code switch like that really made me think.

“Class perception is not always conscious. People aren’t necessarily calculating. You just adapt, especially as a woman, in order to either survive or better yourself. It’s easy to judge and sometimes that code switching is used in a way that’s not appropriate, as a kind of cosplay of being working class. But so often it’s just people trying to adapt and survive.”

Reynolds is making a name for herself in the acting industry. Recent performances in Steven Knight’s House of Guinness and Outlander followed a very memorable supporting role. No one who saw her in the Kneecap film is likely to forget her turn as rapper Mo Chara’s Unionist girlfriend Georgia. 

“So often when you do a good indie film, it never gets seen,” she says. “But Kneecap became this cultural movement. I am so proud to be part of it. Especially it being a Belfast thing and something that I politically align with. It was just so fun. We had a good year of going to festivals and awards and hanging out together. People like us generally don’t feel accepted in those rooms, but it was our film. We were like the cool people. 

“People think Kneecap have this hard exterior and rapper’s bravado, but they were so kind and soft with me. 

“They’re such an inspiration for people in their community. And the way they speak out and defy class perceptions is amazing.

“I went to their show in Finsbury Park last summer with Fontaines DC and it was unreal. So class. It felt like a magical moment for Ireland. I feel lucky to be at this age when all of this cultural stuff is happening with our country.” 

Reynolds has recently completed Ancestors in Dublin, alongside Éanna Hardwicke, Rupert Everett, Jack Wolfe and Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks – set in the 1980s during the Aids crisis: “a really special story” by “the angelic” David Turpin. And she is now working on another big, bold, Belfast story – a Channel 4 adaptation of Michael Magee’s heralded novel Close to Home – alongside another brilliant, bold Belfast actor, Anthony Boyle. 

“Michael Magee is a generational talent,” she says. “That book is so delicate and beautiful. It’s the most authentic portrayal of Belfast ever. It’s set in all these clubs in Belfast in 2013, when I was 15. I grew up in these clubs and this culture. The casting is so local and authentic – it’s gonna be the rawest version of our community.” 

Reynolds calls the range of roles coming her way “a blessing”. And she’s determined to use her status as a rising star to talk about issues she cares about. 

“Angelina Jolie is someone who really inspires me,” she says. “I deeply admire her activism and how her art and ethics are always at the forefront. She’s got that ferocity but also a deep softness and care for marginalised people. I don’t think you can be an actor and not be political and not be humanist.

“The reason most of us do this is because we are feelers. We need to express. We’ve got heavy hearts and need to get something out. It’s about having an open heart. Extending that into a more socio-political sense is really inspirational and goes hand in hand, for me anyway.”

When she’s not filming, Reynolds volunteers with the Rhythms of Life homelessness charity in London, set up by Andrew Faris, who has lived experience of rough sleeping. 

“It’s essentially a soup kitchen,” she explains. “We get all the leftover food from supermarkets and stuff, collect it up, and make meals. So you prep it during the day in the kitchens and distribute it at night. 

“Living life from a socialist perspective and knowing that we are all connected and all one is something I try to practise every day. Anti racism and being conscious and aware. I do a lot of reading. 

“And through art and advocating and protest – I protest a lot – it becomes part of your life. It can still be scary, especially as a young woman and actress. Because we’re told to stay in our lane constantly.”

But Reynolds is an actor of substance and is defiantly not listening. 

“Ricky Gervais telling actors and artists to not speak up, because ‘what do we know?’ I say, what is his place to lecture artists?” she says. “If you’ve done your critical reading and you’re informed, then you have to speak up. It could be any one of us born into war or with no home to go to. 

“The key to change is protest and resistance – all coming from a kind, non-violent place, of course. But it is so easy to be silenced. 

“I would not sleep at night unless I platformed the issues I care about. Let’s all band together and show the solidarity we need to.”

A Woman of Substance airs on C4 Wednesday and Thursday nights and is available to stream as a box set.

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