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Why Jenna Coleman struggled with the childbirth scenes in The Cry

Did the filming put Jenna Coleman off motherhood?


jenna coleman bbc premiere© Photo: Getty Images
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
September 20, 2018
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Jenna Coleman has opened up about playing a mother in The Cry, and admitted that she struggled to film the childbirth scenes. The actress, who is best known for her roles in Doctor Who and Victoria, spoke about the scenes at a screening on the new series, which follows the life of a devastated mother after her baby son is abducted. Jenna said: "I spent a good first chunk of it just thinking they'd completely miscast – and why on earth me? I'm not a mother! I really kind of hit myself over the head with it. I felt there was obviously something I wouldn't be able to capture. And I've really struggled with that."

jenna coleman the cry 1© Photo: BBC

Jenna opened up about the childbirth scenes

She added that the intense show hasn't put her off from motherhood in the future, explaining: "It hasn't put me off but it's opened my eyes up to the realities of motherhood. And to what a lot of my friends are experiencing perhaps at the moment. And, I think, people don't really talk about it that much. But it's not scarred me forever."

READ: Jenna Coleman undergoes transformation for new role - see her shocking new look

The show is set to take over Bodyguard's Sunday night spot in October, and BBC Drama Senior Commissioning Editor Elizabeth Kilgarriff and BBC Drama Commissioning Executive Gaynor Holmes praised the show, saying: "We're very excited to have started filming in Australia and to have such an incredible array of Australian talent joining Jenna and Ewen, topped off with some of Scotland's most accomplished actors. Watching them bring Helen FitzGerald's gripping, page-turner novel and Jacquelin Perske's wonderful scripts to life is a joy and we can't wait for BBC One audiences to see The Cry." Executive Producer for Synchronicity Films, Claire Mundell, added: "I am delighted to have such a talented cast joining Jenna, Ewen and the team. It's so exciting to have such brilliant Scottish actors as Stella and Sophie joining our absolutely stellar Australian cast Asher, Alex, Markell and Shareena and to tell this thrilling story which spans the two countries."

READ: Victoria star Jenna Coleman shows off baby bump in new snap: 'Permanently pregnant'

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