Romola Garai has said she is entering her “midlife sexpot era” and hopes for more roles as a “sexy untrustworthy wife” as she stars in new ITV drama Adultery. The six-part series, created by Bafta-winning writer Danny Brocklehurst, follows personal trainer Beth (Garai) and GP Tom (Dominic Cooper), both married, who begin an intense illicit affair after their teenage children start dating.
Filming intimate scenes in a car
One pivotal scene was filmed inside a blue Toyota Yaris parked in a remote roadside spot during a storm in the Peak District last winter. Garai recalled: “It can pose challenges, depending on the size of the car. Me and Dominic [Cooper] got in this hatchback and asked: ‘How far do these seats go back?’ Soon there was a gale blowing outside. We were in the car, ready to shoot, but outside the entire film crew were being buffeted by high winds. They said: ‘You guys stay in there, don’t get out!’ while all the lights were getting blown away.”
While the crew battled the elements, the co-stars had a “long, gossipy conversation about people in the industry”, she said: “While everyone else was trying to save the show, we were sitting in the car, like: ‘Well, I’ve heard he’s a total nightmare!’”
Connecting with the character
Garai admitted she picked up the script “with a little bit of hesitation” because it was about a cheating wife written by a man. “In our cultural imagination, unfaithful women haven’t always been well served and can often be a projection of male insecurity – from Eve onwards. But some of my favourite books, like Madame Bovary, are so much more than that. Happily, Danny’s scripts were brilliant. They go into the complex area of marital disappointment.”
She said she “just knew” Beth, describing her as “somebody who’s exhausted from doing all the right things. Ferrying the kids around, washing the team’s football kit, contributing financially to the home in two different jobs. She’s part of the sandwich generation and she’s overwhelmed. I was like: hard-relate. No acting required.”
Sex scenes and intimacy coordinators
Garai praised the use of intimacy coordinators, saying sex scenes are now “so much better”. She recalled: “They never used to be properly directed. It was a case of ‘Do what you want. As long as she gets her tits out, it doesn’t matter.’ Which was awful for 90% of people and great for 10% of people. It’s so much better now with intimacy coordinators. There are respectful, technical conversations. You’re doing it like a stunt, basically, with the equivalent of a fight director telling everyone exactly what to do.”
She added that humour helps: “Sex scenes are still weird and a bit embarrassing. Physical intimacy with another person releases all sorts of chemicals. Your body is responding and your brain sometimes doesn’t know how to process that. So it’s useful to have a scene partner you can laugh with. It releases the tension.”
Double standards and technology
Garai pointed out the double standard in how men and women are judged for affairs: “Women get called ‘whores’. There’s no slur word for sexual incontinence in men. You’d never call a dude a ‘home-wrecker’ either.”
She also discussed the role of technology in the show, which features sexy selfies, phone-tracking apps and Insta stalking. “Of course, it’s all bullshit,” she said. “Kids would be perfectly within their rights to say: ‘No, fuck off, older people. You’re all on email for work, you’re meeting people on Hinge, you’ve got Ring doorbells for your parcels.’ The show attacks that hypocrisy.”
Award-winning career
Garai won an Olivier award last year for her performance in the stage adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s memoir The Years. She was nominated twice, for The Years and Giant, leading to the strange sight of her competing with herself. “That was so surreal,” she said.
She recalled that The Years’ graphic backstreet abortion scene made theatregoers pass out almost every night: “Out of 53 performances, I’d say it happened 51 times. Extraordinary. I doubt I’ll experience anything like that again as an actor.”
Adultery starts this October on ITV1 and ITVX.
