British actress Saffron Burrows is probably more known for her roles in several films, which include Frida, Troy and most recently The Bank Job. She, however, also appeared in the fourth season of the legal drama Boston Legal, although she’s recently left it in order to film the upcoming NBC series My Own Worst Enemy.
The series, which stars Christian Slater, is set to premiere on October 13. The show revolves around a man who is unaware that he has two identities. One of those identities is Henry, a suburban family man; the other is Edward, a ruthless government operative. Saffron plays psychologist Norah Skinner, who treats both identities.
“What drew me to this [role] was every aspect of the production,” she said in the recent TCA press tour. “The writing I found to be astounding, the group of people who are creating the show, and then the cast they were assembling. And there’s an energy to it … which I love from having done theater and having made films that shoot quickly.”
She later revealed in an interview with AfterEllen.com how she prepared for the role. She said she talked to different psychotherapists and found the intimacy they share with their patients interesting. “[The] degree of intimacy that they enjoy sometimes with the people they’re advising or healing, whatever you would call it,” she said. “And how specific and personal they are with their approach, how different each person is, even down to the way they lay out their office and whether there are private things in the room that they work in or not.”
She also found the conversations she made very interesting. “[They're] very specific about what it requires, what good therapy requires and psychology and about it … involving emotional intensity. And of course as actors, we’re very drawn to people who are emotionally intense because that’s how we work, so there are some parallels there just in terms of focus that are interesting.”
Burrows also revealed the challenges she faced during production. “I think, just the idea that you want to lay the foundations well,” she said. “That’s always the thing from the beginning. Like Alfre [Woodard, her co-star] said, that … you turn up, here you are, whatever age you are, you’ve had a life, and that you need to know quite clearly what you are in order to have the story continued from there and be surprised.” But, she revealed, it hasn’t been that hard for her so far. “My stuff has been gentle so far because Norah is a slow birth, so I’m budding up gently, which is good,” she said.
My Own Worst Enemy premieres on October 13, from 10pm on NBC.
