New U&Alibi drama I, Jack Wright comes from the creator of Unforgotten, and follows a family who are left reeling after their wealthy patriarch dies in mysterious circumstances, and leaves behind a shocking, unexpected will.
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One of the central family members, Emily, is played by Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, who has teased that her character may be difficult to like - but so, it seems, are the rest of the family as well.
"I worry ever so slightly, because I think I’ve probably made her a character you can't sympathise that much with or empathise with," Ashbourne Serkis told RadioTimes.com exclusively at the premiere of I, Jack Wright, when speaking about her character.
"I should not say this, but I watched her, and I'm like, 'God, you're actually a b****. You're actually really annoying.'
"But she's got her reasons. And I think one of the interesting things about the show is they're all really messed up. They're all terrible people, but they're all messed up in their own way, mainly because of what Jack Wright has done to them."
I, Jack Wright. UKTV
Ashbourne Serkis continued: "And it manifests in so many different ways, but it's made them all selfish and cruel and, for Emily particularly, there’s this big fat barrier where you never really know what she's thinking for real.
"You feel like she's always got an agenda, and to an extent she has, but she's steely and she's sharp, and she's got a lot of her granddad in her."
Ashbourne Serkis isn't the only one hyping up her character's nastiness. Zoë Tapper, who plays Georgia Wright in the series, has also called her character "mercurial and vicious".
"She's really high maintenance, and she's all about what she looks like, and she's just delicious," she said. "I absolutely loved her as soon as I read her on the page, and some of her one-liners are just absolute gold."
Starring alongside Ashbourne Serkis and Tapper in the series are Trevor Eve, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Gemma Jones, John Simm, Daniel Rigby, Rakhee Thakrar, Harry Lloyd, Liz Kingsman, James Fleet, Sabrina Bartlett and Percelle Ascott.
I, Jack Wright is coming to U&Alibi on Wednesday 23rd April at 9pm.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
