The Split's Annabel Scholey reveals what to expect from the third and final series
BBC One’s The Split is back for its much anticipated third and final series. Written and now also directed by Abi Morgan, the show follows the lives, loves, careers and (frankly) chaos of the four Defoe family women, three of which are top divorce lawyers.
Annabel Scholey (who you’ll also recognise from The Salisbury Poisonings and Brittania) plays middle sister, Nina Defoe. A high-flying London lawyer, it would appear from the outside that Nina has it all, but she’s struggled with alcohol addiction as well as stealing in the past two seasons so far.
When we left Nina at the end of series two, she was single, pregnant and had just kissed Tyler Donaghue (Damien Molony), the husband of long-term family friend and colleague, Zander Hale (Chukwudi Iwuji), leaving viewers on a knife-edge wondering what would happen next.
Another cliff-hanger from series two was, of course, the central love triangle storyline between eldest daughter Hannah (Nicola Walker), her husband Nathan (Stephen Mangan) and Hannah’s “one that got away” Christie Carmichael (Barry Atsma).
We caught up with Annabel to find out what to expect from the Defoe women in season three and exactly how some of those explosive storylines could play out in the final series.
Annabel chatted to GH from a cottage in Wales, where she was staying while filming for a new project (more on that later), and revealed some exciting news about season three of The Split.
Here, she tells GH how Nina’s pregnancy played out and whether she managed to control her alcohol addiction. She discusses the fallout from Hannah and Nathan’s relationship, tells us which character we'll be seeing a lot more of this series and explains why she thinks Nina and Tyler are “soul mates"...
How would you describe the Defoe women of The Split?
[Writer and director] Abi Morgan, who's written it brilliantly, has created these flawed, funny, quite selfish at times, interesting women, and thrown it all in there together. I'd say [the show is] a blend of comedy and drama.
How was it playing such a multi-faceted character like Nina, who often gets herself into quite chaotic situations?
I love playing complicated and emotional wreck type characters…I love the emotional journey that she's been on. Abi [Morgan] has written very beautiful stuff for Nina which is brilliant.
I read the first script when I was auditioning [and] I fell in love with her because she's complex. I think she's a really positive and loving person. The audience that I end up chatting to seem to really love Nina and are rooting for her, and I think that's important. She has got a huge heart and really is trying to get herself together.
Will we see more of Nina and Tyler in the next series?
I think she was really taken by surprise [by the romantic turn of events]. She definitely was not in hot pursuit of him and I think they are soulmates in some ways, because they've been through the same thing and they're addicts.
It's obviously got to go somewhere from there, because [their kiss] was quite an intense moment. I can't say any more than that, but it definitely was unfinished business by the end of series two.
I suppose you can't tell us whether Zander finds out about Nina and Tyler...?
I can't! I can't tell you anything. Sorry, I hate being cryptic!
And what about Nina’s pregnancy? Will we be meeting a mini Nina in series three?
She's got a three-month-old by the time we come back, a little girl called Cora which is great because you get to see Nina trying to work out how to be a top lawyer (because she goes back to work straight away) and working out how she can be a decent mum. She doesn't have a lot of confidence. [The youngest Defoe sister] Rose helps her enormously, probably too much.
I don't think you see this very often even now, a career woman trying so hard to keep her identity in the workplace and shape-shift into being a new mother.
I have a daughter, it's a big shock to the system. I went back to work when my little girl was three months old…so really it was great to be able to show that on screen.
Is Nina in control of her drinking in series three?
She has gotten control of it, yes. But, you know, with any addict, I think there's always a new addiction. She's still sober, which is great, and she's not stealing anymore, but her focus shifts to something else…
Can we expect any more conflicts and challenges between the three sisters and their mother, Ruth (Deborah Findlay), in the new series?
Yes, it's an interesting dynamic series three, very different. [Abi Morgan] has given all three of us huge journeys to go, very emotional journeys.
We've got a lot of drama and a lot of conflicts and lots of fighting…but whenever they're in the darkest times, they put their differences aside, and they are absolutely 100% there for each other.
All of them can be quite selfish and self-involved, which I love because there's no apology for that. You get the three-dimensional characters, which is brilliant.
There are huge things that happen that they haven't even realised, and particularly something that happens to me and nobody has realised it's happening until it's too late.
How much can tell us about Hannah and Nathan’s relationship in the third series?
That is a major focus of the series because we leave the end of series two and [Nathan] has left his ring, so it wouldn't be a drama if they didn't really milk that! It’s painful, of course, because we know what divorce is behind the scenes, we know how it works, and how cruel it is and how upsetting it is. It's a difficult position for Hannah to be in as she's on both sides of the coin [but] it affects all of them because they love Nathan, as a family member [and] suddenly he's not there.
As well as all the family drama, will we see more interesting divorce storylines from clients this series?
There's one main one and it's actually Zander's sister…who is happily married but finds out she's got a degenerative disease. So that's a really difficult, emotionally wrenching storyline.
Chuk [Chukwudi Iwuji, who plays Zander Hale] is absolutely brilliant. You get to know a character to a certain extent for a couple of series, and then suddenly, you're allowed into his private life.
But there are some other [client storylines] that are really interesting ones, there’s surrogacy and same sex couples. As usual, there are a few dotted around but I'd say this series, because it's the final one, we are more focused on family.
You were also in The Salisbury Poisonings playing Sarah Bailey, the wife of the police officer who came into contact with Novichok. What was it like portraying a real person as part of such a huge, historic event?
It was an incredible experience, I have to say. I've never played anybody who was alive before and it felt like a completely different job, because it just felt way more important than normal. It felt like we had a responsibility.
I was really proud of being part of it, and thrilled when it came out and that it got such an amazing response. What was the best about it was that Sarah contacted me and said how thrilled she was with my portrayal of her and I mean, that was my job done.
You’re currently on location in Wales shooting a new project. Can you tell us about that?
I'm filming an independent film, it's for BFI and BBC films called Chuck Chuck Baby. It's a brilliant film set in Wales, written by a Welsh lady, Janis Pugh, and she's directing it as well.
It's a love story and it's just a brilliant, brilliant regional film. It's about growing up here in Flint, and how you get stuck in a place and actually your soul sometimes feels completely trapped, you've got no way out. It's got songs in it, it's not a musical, but there is a really amazing soundtrack. I get to play a character that is the complete opposite to Nina, which is fantastic.
You’ve had a very varied career so far, but what would your dream role or project be?
If I were to go back on stage (which I think I ought to do at some point or I'll lose my nerve!), I'd love to be Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams.
I also did a lot of research recently on the first female pilots. There're some amazing stories about them and I think it's high time someone makes a story about that, so if somebody does make a series, I'll be in it!
The Split series three will air on BBC One on Monday 4 April at 9pm. All episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer from 4th April. The Split series one and two are available on BBC iPlayer to stream now.
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