Jessica Reynolds has revealed she almost turned down the lead role in the Channel 4 drama after doubting she was right for the part.
The Irish actress, who plays the younger version of Emma Harte in the new eight-part adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s bestselling novel, A Woman of Substance, admitted she initially questioned whether she would even be considered for the role.
Speaking at a screening and Q&A for the series, Ms Reynolds told GB News and other outlets that when the audition first came through as a self-tape, she nearly decided not to submit one at all.
She said: “It came across just as a self-tape and I suppose being Irish and having this voice, when I first saw it I thought no one’s going to want me as this person."
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Jessica Reynolds almost turned down the lead role in the Channel 4 drama
|CHANNEL 4
Ms Reynolds said she initially believed the character of Emma would be cast very differently.
“This is a classic English rose,” she explained, adding that the role was rooted in a working-class Yorkshire background.
Because of that, the actress assumed there would be many other performers better suited to the part.
“You think about the amount of competitors that are going up for something like that who can step up to it in a way that, in my head, I wouldn’t be able to,” she said.
Jessica Reynolds and Brenda Blethyn both star in the tv series
|GETTY
Ms Reynolds continued: “I’d done a lot of really dark supporting stuff before, so I kind of thought people aren’t going to see me as this,” she said.
“I did initially say, no, I’m not going to tape for it."
However, after being offered more time to submit the audition, Ms Reynolds decided to give it a try, despite believing the tape itself was far from perfect.
“I did what I thought was a pretty terrible tape with a dodgy Northern accent,” she joked.
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Jessica Reynolds said the self-tape audition she submitted was 'pretty terrible'
|GETTY
But the gamble paid off. The actress was invited back for a recall audition, which is when she began to realise the scale of the project.
“I was like, this isn’t just any old period drama.
"I felt like I was reading a book. I was page turning."
Ms Reynolds then thought "maybe I could bring something to this".
The new series tells the rags-to-riches story of Emma Harte, a young kitchen maid from Yorkshire who rises to become one of the richest women in the world.
Ms Reynolds portrays Emma during her younger years, with Brenda Blethyn playing the character later in life.
Filming the role proved to be a challenge for Ms Reynolds, particularly as she had to gradually change the character’s accent as Emma moves through different social circles.
"You’ll see as the series goes on even her accent changes,” she explained.
Jessica Reynolds
|GETTY
"She learns to code-switch and adapt to her surroundings."
The actress admitted that switching between accents during filming was particularly difficult, especially when scenes were shot out of order.
"It was tough, literally having to shed the strong working-class Yorkshire accent over a weekend," she said.
Despite those challenges, Ms Reynolds said the role ultimately became deeply personal to her.
"I became so inhabited by her,” she said.
"At one point, I was even speaking in a Yorkshire accent in my sleep."