FINDING Alice’s Keeley Hawes has revealed how the cast’s real life partners stepped in for the show’s steamiest scenes.
The new ITV drama follows the titular Alice after the death of her beloved husband of 20 years, Harry.
Production on the series was delayed because of coronavirus and when they resumed filming, a number of changes had to be put in place when it came to filming actors close together.
Speaking on today’s This Morning, Keeley explained how they managed to get around the issue, saying: “You have to be really inventive because you have to make it work, and you don’t want Covid to impact on the story, particularly when you’ve only got five weeks left to shoot.
“So I know that some of the soaps were using perspex screens in order to bring the actors closer to each other.
“One of the things that we did, I have a scene where I have to get very close to another actor, I won’t say who as it’s a little spoiler alert, but I had to get quite close to him and we were trying to work out how to do this.
“And someone had the idea of bringing in his actual wife and putting a wig on his lovely wife and identical costume to mine, so I did the scene and at this moment, I stepped away and his wife stepped in and had this moment with him.”
She added with a laugh: “It was quite awkward for me as I was standing quite close and watching, and then she stepped away and I stepped back in and carried on the scene. So there are all sorts of ways.
“It was very lovely of his wife to come and do it and get involved.”
After Alice’s husband’s death, she struggles with overwhelming feelings of loss, abandonment and disorientation.
Making matters worse, as she continues to settle into her new home, Alice uncovers an unsettling secret Harry had desperately tried to hide.
His dark trail of debt, suspicion and criminality leaves her blindsided.
However, despite the serious and sometimes dark nature of the show, Keeley described it as a “black comedy” and said she had great fun on set with her co-stars, which includes Joanna Lumley and Nigel Havers.
Finding Alice starts on Sunday, January 17 at 9pm on ITV.
