Harry Potter HBO star compares fantasy series acting to new role in emotional drama Babies

This article contains mention of pregnancy loss and miscarriage that some readers may find distressing.

Before we see him stepping into the Wizarding World in the new Harry Potter TV show for HBO, Paapa Essiedu is first starring in a very different series, the naturalistic BBC drama, Babies, from Mum and Marriage writer Stefan Golaszewski.

Essiedu stars opposite Siobhán Cullen in the powerful new drama, with the duo playing married couple, Stephen and Lisa, who experience multiple pregnancy losses and miscarriages while trying to have a baby.

Also starring in the series are Jack Bannon as Stephen's best friend Dave, and Charlotte Riley as Dave's new girlfriend Amanda, with their fresh relationship and Stephen and Lisa's experiences leading to a rupture in the friendship.

Essiedu, Cullen and Bannon spoke exclusively with Radio Times, and explained how acting in the series, which is intended to be as naturalistic as possible, compares with experiences on fantasy series and other, more heightened projects.

Asked whether acting in these varied types of projects is different, Essiedu said: "Yes and no. Obviously, with a show like this, we come into rooms and we try and make them look lived in. The clothes that we wear are humbling. There is such a focus on creating reality, which I suppose is slightly different from fantasy.

"I guess in our processes, whatever realm we're in, we're still trying to hopefully dig into something that feels truthful or feels believable and honest.

"But the surroundings, and I guess the style of performance or connection is slightly different in the fact that this has got way more of a flow in the wall feel, where the camera feels a little bit more stepped back and observational, rather than the cameras doing crazy drones or whatever.

"And I think both require great skill to be able to navigate, so I wouldn't say one was easier or better or anything than the other, but I think we all definitely bought into the overarching question of the way we wanted to execute this story."

Meanwhile, when asked how watching the series back differs from watching other projects back, considering its lack of special effects or more 'showy' camera movements and edits, Cullen said: "There's definitely an element of, there's nowhere to hide.

"You're not at any point going to fall back on, 'Oh well, the fancy editing or the tricksy camera work will cover anything. But I think from the get go, there was just such an such an utmost trust between us as a cast and the crew, and ultimately Stefan at the helm.

"So, where we may have felt really exposed and quite raw and vulnerable, you know that you're in totally safe hands, and that Stefan has this all mapped out and knows exactly what he's looking for."

Bannon added: "I would say, watching it, there was nowhere to hide, but you knew why everything that was in it was in it on the day, and the cameras were locked off. So actually, with less opportunity for editing, I watched something that I remember doing, whereas with something that has loads of cuts, you're like, 'Oh, they chose that bit, or they missed that bit out.'

"With watching Babies, you know why you lift that mug up on that line, because it was discussed on the day. So I felt like it was much more what I expected, in a way, because we have more control than the editor, in a sense."

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Babies will air on Monday 30 March at 9pm on BBC One, and is available to watch in full on iPlayer now.

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