City actress ‘thrilled’ to film alongside Friends star David
A Bath-based actress is starring alongside Friends legend David Schwimmer in an upcoming TV series on Sky One.
Jane Stanness, who has lived in Bath for 30 years, plays Mary Needham in Intelligence, which airs on February 21.
Ms Stanness, who has worked alongside the likes of Simon Pegg, Michael Sheen, Rob Brydon and Reece Shearsmith, says Mary is a “geeky cryptanalyst” and will feature in all six episodes.
She said it was very exciting to be part of the new series and even more of a thrill to work with the Friends star.
“I have been in the industry forever but this is one of the best things I have ever been involved with,” she said.
“The part was written for me by Nick Mohammed (the show’s creator), who I have worked with before.
“We filmed this between June and July last year at Twickenham Studios in London. It was very exciting and it was a lot of fun.
“It was really hard to keep a straight face with everybody.
“David Schwimmer is very funny and there was a really nice family atmosphere among the cast and crew. It was such a thrill to work with him. It was a female-led camera and stand crew – it is quite unusual to have the women in charge.
“I am pretty much dressed in wool and it was very hot for filming but, apart from that, it was so much fun.”
Ms Stanness, who also dances, sings and writes, described what her character was like.
“She went to university at a very young age and is a sort of super-genius and maths wizard,” she said. “She is part of a little team of three which is part of a larger ensemble piece. I can’t say much more than that.”
Ms Stanness starred in the HBO/SKY series Julia Davis, Bafta award-winning comedy series Sally4ever, the action/horror film Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018), TV series Human Remains, Nighty Night and more. Sky states on its website: “Intelligence is a workplace comedy set in GCHQ where they tackle international and domestic cyber crime from a desktop.
“But when a pompous, maverick NSA agent (David Schwimmer) comes over from the US to join the team, he enlists an inept and tactless computer analyst (Nick Mohammed) in a power grab that threatens to disrupt the team’s ability to combat cyber terrorism.”