Suranne Jones doesn’t think acting comes naturally to her.
The 39-year-old actress was encouraged by her parents to take part in as many classes as possible – whether that was dance, drama, recorder or singing – as a child and, although she’s had a highly successful career since her early 20s, the brunette beauty has had to work hard at her talent.
Speaking to the Radio Times magazine, she said: "Some people are in their bones talented but I’m not. I’ve had to learn my craft, hone it."
Asked whether there has not been a moment where she felt, ‘I got this’, she added fiercely: "No! God, no, no, no."
With that in mind, it’s hardly surprising that Suranne was blown away when she was heavily praised by viewers for her role as GP Gemma Foster in the first series of ‘Doctor Foster’ two years ago.
The first instalment saw Doctor Foster – also known as Gemma – left heartbroken when she found out her husband Simon Foster (Bertie Carvel), had been having an affair with a younger woman and then decided to leave her to start a family with his pregnant girlfriend.
Although fans were begging for a second series, which will hit television screens next week, Suranne wasn’t sure about it and needed persuading.
But she swiftly changed her mind when she met with writer Mike Bartlett and he explained he’d base the second series on the pain of divorce.
The former ‘Coronation Street’ star explained: "I went for dinner with Mike, and he said, ‘What about the story of the divorce, when two people hate each other and they’ve got a kid to look after?’ I was hooked."
And Suranne feels welcoming her son – whose name is not known – 18 months ago with her husband Laurence Akers helped her with the role.
She said: "People ask me what I draw on. Clearly I wasn’t thinking like that because by series two we [her husband Laurence Akers] had a baby. We were really happy. Being a mum really helped me because this series is about when two people get divorced and because everyone else is looking the other way and getting on with their lives. No one’s got their eye on the two people that hate each other."
Suranne Jones: Acting isn’t natural to me
