Rebecca Root interview
Rebecca Root plays the key role of Judy in new sitcom Boy Meets Girl. She talks to BCG here...
Hi Rebecca. Can we start off by asking you explain how this TV project came to be...
It is a result of the Trans Comedy Award set up in 2012 by BBC Writersroom and All About Trans.
There was a table read in November 2013 for the two winning scripts for which I had auditioned for the role of Judy. Elliott [Kerrigan]'s script was then commissioned for a pilot in Spring 2014 when I auditioned again. Then show got a green light in Summer 2014 but there was no more auditioning: Judy was mine. We then shot the series in February this year.
It's been a long time since you filmed the pilot episode. Are you excited it's finally now on screen?
It has felt like a lifetime but then anything does that you are really excited about. It's been like being 7 again and waiting for the summer holidays, Christmas and my birthday all in one.
What were your first thoughts when you were approached about this project?
"Great! At last!" This was a wonderful part for any actor, let alone a trans actor! And a lovely show as well.
How do the situations Judy faces in the show compare to real life?
Judy dates! RR does not. Why not? It's too much hassle. There's not enough time or money and I have baggage which most people don't want to grapple with.
How much do you identify with Judy? You also transitioned relatively late in life?
We are quite similar as we both transitioned in our early 30s... late for some, early for others. I know several trans women who transitioned much, much later: after retirement, after their kids have grown up or their spouse has died. But, unlike Judy, I don't live at home!
You had roles in the likes of Keeping Up Appearances and The Detectives in the 1990s, before your transition. How has the experience of starring in your very own sitcom compared?
Before Boy Meets Girl my career was a bit spits and spots, coughs and spits, small parts in telly, nothing major, nothing ground-breaking...
Since we've filmed Boy Meets Girl - it's still early days - but already this year has been my busiest in a 25 year career. I have a small part in The Danish Girl (in which Eddie Redmayne stars), a Hollyoaks guest appearance and, more recently, theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of an ensemble cast in an award winning verbatim piece called Trans Scripts. Busy is good!
You've got a fantastic cast around you in the show. What's it been like to work with people who have such great comedy credentials?
It has been an absolute joy. I learnt so much about screen acting; as well as coping with the possibility of becoming famous, and how to be comfortable in the limelight.
A lot of the press features (including this interview) have primarily focused on the transgender aspects of the show... is it frustrating to you that we're not yet at the stage in society where a storyline such as this is treated like any other romantic comedy?
I don't mind at the moment, but ask me again in 5 years....
Presumably there's plenty of material and ideas for a second series?
I'd like to see Judy and Leo wrestle with a few more moments of intimacy and also coping with more public interactions... both good and bad... all the challenges that face a trans person, but also any couple!
'Boy Meets Girl' is on BBC2 on Thursdays at 9:30pm.