'We’ve lost a few people': Trying's Rafe Spall addresses co-stars' unexpected exits

Esther Smith and Rafe Spall are back for season four of Trying – and things have changed a lot for Nikki and Jason who are trying to navigate life as parents to teenagers.

Luckily, something that remains a constant is that the couple are just as loved-up as ever. “In a long-term relationship when everything else has fallen away, if you still have a laugh together, then you’re going to be alright,” says Rafe, who plays Jason. “In real-life Esther and I have a laugh together and share a similar sense of humour.”

Esther agrees and finds herself laughing along for real when they film comedy moments.

“I love that side of our characters and it’s so easy to play that with Rafe though because he’s so funny,” adds Esther, who stars as Nikki.

“It genuinely is an enjoyable experience and it’s the base to Nikki and Jason’s relationship – they have fun together," she continues. "It’s so lovely that the show has been so well-received because it means we get to keep doing it and keep exploring it. I can’t believe the first season came out in lockdown.”

Rafe and Esther have been working together on the series since it launched in 2020 as one of Apple TV’s very first commissions and the actors are strongly rumoured to be a couple off-screen. So it’s no wonder Rafe adds, “I love doing this show, it’s my favourite thing I’ve ever done and I’d happily do it forever.”

Over the last 24 episodes, Nikki and Jason have been on a long journey in a bid to have a family from failed IVF attempts, to then realising they wanted to adopt, to the children’s grandmother Bev (Clare Higgins) turning up to take the kids in the last season – but they have worked through it. However, being parents to teens might be their biggest test yet.

“Princess being a teenager, and Tyler almost being a teenager, presents Nikki and Jason with a lot of new challenges,” explains Esther.

“They’re still living in the same place, but it’s definitely had a glow-up, the flat looks really lovely.

“They’re in the swing of being parents, but being presented with these new challenges and presented with the possibility of their daughter wanting to find her birth mum, which is a huge thing. I guess the premise of the whole series is, how do you tackle that?”

While the family unit remains the same, the time jump to six years since we left everyone in season three means that new actors Scarlett Rayner and Cooper Turner have taken over the roles of Princess and her younger brother, Tyler.

“They’re excellent young actors,” says Rafe. “Cooper is slightly younger, he’s still at school and such a lovely kid. And Scarlett is 21 now, she’s brilliant.” The biggest storyline in the new series is Princess wanting to track down her birth mum – which Nikki in particular struggles to deal with.

“Inevitably, Nikki wants the best for her daughter because she has such love for her,” says Esther. “Selfishly, what Nikki struggles with is this idea that there’s this other person that she potentially has to compete with. And it’s such a difficult dynamic to get your head around because of course, this young teenager wants to find her birth mum. So for Nikki, there’s a lot of tension between how to feel and how to navigate that.”

“Jason is perhaps more pragmatic and not as emotional as Nikki,” adds Rafe. “But it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t feel things in his own way. He’s less of a worrier than her, but when he says to her, ‘Look, it’s just us now, there’s nothing to worry about,’ he’s trying to reassure himself as much as he is her.”

While there have been big cast changes, there have also been cast cuts including the death of a major character. And even Esther admits she found the opening scenes tough to watch.

“I watched the whole thing the other day, and I was surprised – and I know what happens,” teases Esther. “I kept thinking, ‘This is heartbreaking.’”

Rafe adds, “I don’t want to give too much away, but we’ve lost a few people actually. And it’s a decision that’s made for the story, because that’s what’s most important. It’s more important than any actors or characters.

“Our characters are confronted with challenging issues like death, loss, adoption and fertility, whatever it might be. But it’s all with humour. That’s one of the merits of the show, it’s one of the reasons why the show is successful – because it’s funny in the way that, as tragic as life can be, there’s always an element of comedy involved, especially when the chips are down. It’s how we deal with things.”

Watch Trying season four on Wednesday 22 May on Apple TV+