Jill Halfpenny rocks the boat in The Feud, portraying a character whose home makeover throws an entire street into turmoil – and Chris Gascoyne is set to make things even deadlier.
Off-screen, Jill Halfpenny knows all about maintaining friendly relations. “I do have a WhatsApp group, and ours mainly consists of bin talk,” she shares. “We live in a Victorian flat, and the bins are always blowing over. There’s constant debate about who puts the rubbish back in.”
The actress, 49, stars in the six-parter as Emma, who appears to be living the dream on Shelbury Drive with husband John (played by Rupert Penry-Jones) and their daughter Beth. But underneath the surface, things aren’t quite as idyllic. “He’s in deeper trouble than he lets on and is desperate to escape,” Rupert hints.
“Emma and John are trying to fix a fault in their relationship,” reveals Rupert, 54. “They had planned to move, but Emma decides to stay and renovate instead.” But it turns out John has his own secret reasons for wanting to go.
On the other end, Chris Gascoyne, made famous by his 23-year tenure as Peter Barlow in ITV soap Coronation Street. But details of his role are being kept under the lid.
“Chris is a very good actor, because he’s not like that at all in real life,” Rupert says, “He’s one of the loveliest people and a joy to work with. We had a lot of fun and in the evenings we used to play pool in the pub. Those scenes were funny because I’m quite a bit taller than him but he still managed to intimidate the hell out of me.
Ray Fearon, who has known Chris since his pre-fame days, was delighted to be reunited with the former soap star. “I knew Chris before Corrie and he’s great,” Ray says. “What’s funny is I’ve never seen him as a scary guy but in one scene we have an altercation and I thought, ‘He’s threatening me!’ He’s dangerous in this series.”
Despite their rocky patch, Emma and John are in good standing with their neighbours – Sonia (Amy Nuttall) and Alan (Ray Fearon), alongside Derek (James Fleet) and Barbara (Tessa Peake-Jones). That is until the couple proposes a kitchen extension.
Suddenly, objections spring up left, right and centre, and what begins as Emma’s dream quickly becomes an all-consuming fixation. “She’s like a steamroller,” Jill says about her on-screen persona.
“There are so many reasons not to have an extension; she doesn’t have the money or a good builder and the neighbours hate it.” Things quickly escalate in the local WhatsApp groups, leading to a chilling turn of events. “The series opens with the house covered in blood,” Rupert discloses. “You don’t know how things got to that point.”
Jill and Rupert found it easy to reunite for The Feud, having previously shared screen time in The Drowning. The series also offered a chance to reconnect with old pals. Jill shares: “I worked with Amy on Liar – it was lovely seeing her again,”.
Rupert, on the other hand, relished working with Ray and James. He reminisces: “Ray and I were in the RSC together 20 years ago and James and I did Charlotte Gray. After 30 years in this business, you’ve usually worked with everyone.”