Keeley Hawes has opened up about feelings of 'responsibility' when playing certain roles in her career.
Speaking to HELLO! and other press at a recent Q&A about upcoming drama Finding Alice, in which she plays the lead role and serves as executive producer, the actress explained that it's often that actors feel a sense of responsibility in the roles they undertake.
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Keeley, who appeared at the virtual event alongside Finding Alice co-stars Joanna Lumley and Isabella Pappas, told reporters: "Quite often you do feel responsible, and on something like Honour there felt a huge responsibility to those real people, and I do feel a responsibility to the Durrell family and her children and grandchildren. But Alice is a unique creation."
WATCH: ITV's Finding Alice official trailer
The Line of Duty star continued: "What I really hope is some people will relate to her, and find something within her and her reaction to her grief that they can relate to, and that may help. It's unique to all of us the way that we all experience grief whether it's a parent, a child or pet. So I can't be responsible for that, but I hope people relate."
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Finding Alice, which is due out on ITV in January, tells the story of Alice and her grief journey after her partner, Harry, suddenly dies. The comedy-drama's director and executive producer, Roger Goldby, also told reporters during the Q&A event last month about the theme of grief behind the show. "[Grief] seems such a common thing, it just naturally came together as something to tell a story about.
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© Photo: ITVKeeley Hawes as lead in upcoming drama Finding Alice
"The other thing that was important was, we wanted to tell a story that didn't shy away from any of the truth and the pain, but also embrace the humour that is always, I think, very close to pain. It was important to weave that in, it's very natural and very organic and comes out of those situations."
Keeley's co-star Joanna Lumley also opened up about her role of playing Sarah, Alice's mother, during the same event. "I think if you look at Alice's parents, you can see that Roger is much more connected to his daughter. Sarah seems hard-hearted because she is hard-hearted and she's tactless.
"She's not a cruel person and she's not a bad person, but she just hasn't got any, or can't see any reasons to have any special graces. So she's kind but fairly dismissive of Harry's parents. She's perpetually irritated by Alice who's made, she thinks, the wrong choice in man."
Finding Alice starts Sunday 17 January, 9pm on ITV.
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