Jessica Brown Findlay reveals nerves filming ITV's Playing Nice scenes after becoming a mother

Jessica Brown Findlay is playing out every parent’s worst nightmare in ITV’s new psychological thriller Playing Nice – a gritty four-part drama about two couples faced with a horrifying dilemma after discovering that their toddlers were switched at birth.

The 35-year-old actress, who found fame as the warm and kind-natured Lady Sybil Crawley in Downton Abbey, tapped into her own experience as a mum of two-year-old twin sons, whom she welcomed via IVF with her husband, actor Ziggy Heath.

When HELLO! joined her on set in Cornwall, Jessica opened up about playing wealthy artist Lucy in the thriller, which also stars James McArdle (Mare of Easttown) as her controlling husband Miles, and James Norton of Happy Valley fame as the other father, Pete, with Niamh Algar as other mum Maddie.

Here, Jessica tells us about making the series, drawing on her own experiences to bring Lucy to life and her nerves filming scenes in the hospital's NICU after welcoming her twin boys.

How did you prepare for the role, Jessica?

I looked into coercive control and physically and mentally abusive relationships. Also, postnatally – the wild dip that happens after you give birth on, like, day four, and the hormonal changes, plus the protective force of mothers and what people are willing to do.

I looked into [baby] swapping and fell down a bit of a rabbit hole of wrong embryos being used or transferred into people during IVF, which really freaked me out. Our boys were born via IVF, but they're 100% related to us. They're like carbon copies of us.

You may also like

• James Norton: Why he swapped Happy Valley psychopath for nice guy role in thriller Playing Nice

• Jessica Brown Findlay opens up about IVF struggles and challenges faced whilst filming thriller Playing Nice

• James Norton's rare glimpses into home life with famous fiancée

• Playing Nice star Niamh Algar's life off-camera with famous boyfriend

• Playing Nice star James McArdle's life off-screen explored

Did you find yourself thinking: 'What would I do?'

Yes, 100%. When I read the script, our sons were six months old and still little babbly babies. I told my husband that if someone pointed at one of our children and said that they weren't actually ours, I’d be like: 'I don't care.' I would fight tooth and nail.

But in that moment, forgetting that you would have a child who wasn’t yours, that really freaks me out. There are certain truths that, once you discover them, you can never unknow them, and that in itself, let alone forming connections with other children, would blow your mind. It really freaked me out.

Was that part of the appeal of taking on the role?

Yes; there's so much in it and that’s truly thrilling. I loved that this part of these women’s lives wasn't secondary or wasn't just part of who they are – it's central to this story.

So it felt really exciting to expose all those raw emotions and not utilise them, but certainly tap into a truth that you deeply feel and experience on a daily basis.

It's a heavy subject matter. Did you manage to find lighter moments with the rest of the cast?

Definitely. I was quite nervous about spending time in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] because I'd already been there as a new mother. However, when you’re working with playful people, you feel safe because you know you’re going to be picked up and supported.

Kate [Hewitt], our director, is phenomenal. One of the first things we ever discussed was protection around where you're having to take yourself mentally, especially as a mum.

Tell us about your character…

Lucy is a full-time mother. She grew up pretty privileged and then had a very successful career as an artist. So she has all that artistic bubbling, but is now in a world where it’s either unappreciated or a bit too shiny. There’s only space for one star in the family, and it's her husband Miles.

What’s it been like filming with the cast?

So much fun. The darker the story, the more essential I find it that the people you're working with aren't method and are playful. If I was working with an actor who needed to go really dark in his role to play my husband, I probably would have been like: 'Maybe no.'

But James [McArdle] and I have worked together before, playing brother and sister [in drama series Life After Life], and now we’re husband and wife.

"Knowing the way he works, how brilliant he is, is amazing. James Norton and I did a short film together [Hero in 2018], too, and had the most interesting chats on the journey home on the train. It's an amazing perk of the job – to work with people that it feels so natural with."

Playing Nice is available to stream on ITVX.