A twenty-something who gets abducted by a sex trafficker, wife of “the first modern lesbian” Miss Anne Lister, a battered wife, a lawyer defending her dad, and – in an upcoming BBC drama series In The Club – a midwife are just a few of the diverse roles Rochdale-born Christine Bottomley has turned her hand to in a career that spans 13 years. Now she joins Maxine Peake (Shameless, The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister, Early Doors, Dinnerladies) and Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners, Him & Her) in Keeping Rosy, a tense psychological thriller about Charlotte (Maxine Peake), an ambitious advertising executive whose life disintegrates after a series of unfortunate events. Here Christine, who plays Sarah, Peake’s sister in the film, tells Glass about kissing Maxine, having her dad watching her sex scenes, and what it’s like working on a low-budget British film.
Christine Bottomley. Photograph: Justin van Vliet
Keeping Rosy is a film that induces anxiety with each scene. When you watch the film/TV series you’re in, can you disconnect from having worked on it and watch it like the audience would?
It was nice watching Keeping Rosy because we got to see it quite a while after it had been filmed. You can step back a few paces and watch it as an audience member would. But sometimes you can’t help but think of when you were filming. It’s peppered with all sorts, and you’re reviewing your own performance. Sometimes it’s nice to revisit things a few years down the line and have a look. There’s some stuff I’ve done that I’ve not watched yet. Some things you just don’t have the time to, or get the chance to watch, but I’ve got them in my cupboard to put on at some point.
What was your experience of watching Keeping Rosy?
I loved watching it because it’s predominantly a female lead in the film, Maxine. And that is so rare, really. For the first 20 or so minutes of the film there’s a woman who holds every single frame and that feels really good to watch as a female. We could do with some more female stories. London was also a character and it was nice to see Blake be so different from his Inbetweeners role and persona. It felt like it had come together and I was pleased with it.
Having just watched the film, I’m still in the mindset of thinking of Blake as the bad guy, so I’m glad it’s not him I’m talking to today …
Blake is such a sweetheart. His partner was pregnant when we were filming, so he was thinking about the prospect of becoming a new dad and there he is going on to film those scenes. He was delighted to be part of the project and he was really looking forward to the challenge of being something quite far from his Inbetweeners character, so I think he enjoyed it.
Christine Bottomley. Photograph: Justin van Vliet
As the movie progresses, you really start to sympathise with Charlotte. But do you think there’s going to be criticism over not providing more focus on the story’s other victim?
I’d like to think not. I think it’s good when stories aren’t fully explained, that some of it is left up to what the audience thinks and feels could have happened. I like storylines where everything’s not laid out on the plate to be seen. But everybody likes different things, so maybe…
What was it like to work alongside Maxine?
I’ve worked with Maxine a few times, so it was brilliant. In Keeping Rosy we had a dialogue with each other straight away. We’re good friends as well. I’ve played her wife before, in a Victorian period drama (BBC’s The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister, 2010), so we’ve shot scenes where I’ve been giving her a kiss. We worked together in another BBC series called Early Doors, too. Because we know each other it made the experience enjoyable – and a lot easier.
Christine Bottomley. Photograph: Justin van Vliet
Keeping Rosy has been described as a dark and claustrophobic film. What was the atmosphere like behind the scenes?
It was a very focused set. With a low-budget British feature, money isn’t bandied around, so you have to get it done; there is a time limit. But I have to say it was a happy shoot. We did have a giggle – Maxine and I tend to. We are quite cheeky when we get together and we had fun. We also have good report with the writer and the director, Mike and Steve. You do become like a little family on set filming, and sitting through hair and make-up, before you all go off and move on.
For a low-budget feature, it really is something that sticks with you long after the credit roll …
Yeah, our director of photography, Roger Pratt, has been Oscar nominated. We were very, very, very lucky to have him on board. He made it look beautiful.
What was your first impression after reading the script?
It may sound like I’m harping on about this, but because it was a female-central film, I really loved it for that. It was also a very clinical script. Maxine’s character is living in this very sterile London flat, surviving at the top of her game, I think they got that really well. What I was attracted to in Sarah is that she comes in and she’s warmer, but maybe not as bright or intelligent. She goes about life in a very different way. I thought those two women – who are sisters, but very different – were written really well.
I believe your dad went to see the film when it premiered as an immersive pop-up cinema in Manchester?
Yes, he did [laughs]. And I have to say, he’s not easily pleased. When people say, “Your parents must be so proud,” I mean, of course they’re supportive but they tell it like it is. He genuinely enjoyed it. And he was sat between two lovely ladies who helped explain the immersive cinematic experience. He’s quite old my dad – like late 70s – and they accompanied him along the way and he was quite chuffed with that.
Christine Bottomley. Photograph: Justin van Vliet
Tell us more about the immersive cinema experience.
Things happen that enlighten the experience for you. For example, this film was being shown at the top of an empty office block in Manchester with a view of the whole of Manchester. There’s little things that happen along the way that add to the thriller part. I went in and experienced the bits that happened before and after, but I didn’t watch it. I thought, “I don’t want to watch this in a roomful of people [who I don’t know] that are seeing it for the first time.”
You are shown in a sex scene in the film. Were you embarrassed that your dad would be seeing that?
No. That’s life isn’t it? Its all about telling the story. It had to be in there; it was necessary.
How are you celebrating this lovely summer days?
I’ve just got back home from working on a television series, so I’m going to have a really nice, healthy tea and rehydrate myself because I’ve had a lovely but busy weekend. I feel some hydration and goodness is necessary.
by Natalie Egling
Photographs by Justin van Vliet
Keeping Rosy can be seen in cinemas in the UK now