Interview with Laura Checkley (Jackie Stokes)
Category: Press Pack ArticleDoes Screw feel different this time?
The tone has really shifted – it’s so much more dangerous. The thriller aspect has really been kicked up a notch. Even down to how it’s been shot, it’s got way more of an edge this series. Toby’s (Jack Bardoe) death is still really raw and each character is working through their own stuff. There’s still humour, but the warmth comes out of the darker moments, and it feels all the more rewarding because of it. It’s a real ride for Jackie this series.
Do you think Jackie has been hardened a bit by what happened to Toby?
I think so. Other things happen along the way that harden her too. All of the characters have been deeply affected by Toby's death. Everything that’s happened between Jackie and Gary (Stephen Wight) make it difficult for her to walk into work every day and just do her job- things have become very complicated. She's still got her humour of course, she'll never lose that, but it gets very intense for her. They're all going through their own stuff, but Rob (Williams, series creator) beautifully brings us together every now and again. Those moments where we do come together feel needed and really earned.
Is she the sort of person who would ask for help if she needed it?
Not always. I think she lets it get to a certain point before she asks for help. She's a matriarch, she’s used to dealing with stuff herself. She’s also sort of lost a friend in Leigh (Nina Sosanya); it has become strained between them. Jackie would always confide in Leigh, but she’s lost that now, especially with Leigh being more interested in taking Rose (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell) under her wing. This series, Jackie feels on her own and although she’s a strong working-class woman who gets on with it, you’ll get to see a much more vulnerable side to her that you haven’t seen yet.
Jackie becomes Louis Costa’s (Ben Tavassoli) key worker this series – what does she make of him?
Jackie's fair and I don’t think she sees much danger with him. What I love about Jackie is she will give everyone a chance, and I think most prisoners would be happy to get either her or Ali (Faraz Ayub) looking after them because they invest. Jackie likes a project, and she knows Costa is a chancer.
What is Jackie’s reaction to rumours of an undercover officer on the wing?
Jackie always thinks of how it will affect her day-to-day job and what the knock-on effect will be for the prisoners. She knows it's going to get nasty until they find out who it is. She also can’t be doing with it all she’s knackered. Prison officers told us that you can go in one day and it's boring and mundane, then the next, it's explosive. Trying to control the prisoners will be a nightmare for the team.
Does she regret hooking up with Gary?
What Rob does so brilliantly is…just when you think you know what someone will do, he pulls the rug and does the opposite and that happens loads more this series. Gary was always a bit of a release for Jackie and a surprise to her as well as it was for the viewer. Her marriage is stale, and she wanted to feel sexy again and Gary did that for a while, but for her it was always of the understanding that it was just fun. The minute it got intense she binned it… She's a good woman who loves her husband, but she messed up, and now yes, regrets it. Her and Gary had great banter, but it has changed now, and it gets way more complicated.
What were you most looking forward to about coming back?
Getting to delve into who Jackie really is. There are some challenging and intense storylines coming up, so I was excited about getting my teeth in to that and it’s been a great challenge. Everyone gets their own arc this series and it runs brilliantly alongside the main big dangerous and exciting storyline.
Have you heard anything in terms of what inmates or prison officers thought of the first series?
While we must honour drama, you want to know that you're portraying it in a real way, and I've had quite a lot of messages on Instagram from female prison officers mainly saying it's one of the most realistic prison dramas they've seen. One said it was so real and truthful but we’re not all having sex in toilet cubicles! Really made me laugh.