COVER Caroline Quentin on working with her daughter
TV star Caroline Quentin opens up about family life, her love of gardening and her joy at acting alongside lookalike daughter Rose
‘There’s a shorthand between me and my daughter’
You’d think that after nearly 50 years in showbusiness, nothing would surprise Caroline Quentin. But in the last year she’s discovered the great joy of sharing the stage with her daughter, budding actress Rose Farmer, 24.
“It has been one of the most brilliant working experiences of my life,” says Caroline, 63, of acting alongside her eldest child. “Working with one of the people you love most in the world, it’s like the greatest gift you’ve ever been given. There’s a shorthand between me and my daughter, the intimacy of the mother-daughter relationship, that I think would be hard to find with someone else.”
So far, Caroline and Rose have teamed up for two plays, both about mother-daughter relationships. Last year they toured in a production of Shaw’s play Mrs Warren’s Profession and this autumn they co-starred in a new production in London, called Infamous. Based on Emma Hamilton, Lord Nelson’s mistress, Caroline and Rose both play Emma at different stages of her life.
Thankfully, Caroline says that, although she and Rose are “very close”, she isn’t overcome with maternal worry when they’re on stage together. “I love working with her because she’s a wonderful actor, funny and generous,” she enthuses. “And oddly, I find that in the [rehearsal] room, she’s just another actor. I don’t find myself concerned about her because I trust her instincts as an actor. It’s just a joy to be on stage with her.”
In the early Noughties Caroline was TV’s favourite leading lady as the star of Blue Murder, Life Begins and Life of Riley, but these days she says she prefers the supporting roles she’s offered in series such as Bridgerton and Doc Martin.
‘It’s nice to play fourth fiddle’
“That period in my career was really great, but honestly, it is so lovely to watch other people doing that,” she muses. “The pressure of being on every single day on something is brutal. And I don’t miss that. It’s really nice to play fourth fiddle!”
In November, she returns in series two of The Lazarus Project, a high-concept thriller about a secret international group of operatives, who can turn back the clock when humankind comes close to mass extinction and steer us out of danger. Caroline plays Wes, the boss of the organisation.
“I’ve never read a script that is a page turner like this is,” she says. “Every single scene is so exciting, and every episode is a cliff-hanger. It’s a proper thriller, but also incredibly funny. Sometimes you think, ‘I shouldn’t be laughing at this, but I am!’”
Three years ago, Caroline sashayed onto the Strictly dancefloor as the partner of Johannes Radebe, and it’s clear her affection for him is strong. The pair recently ran into one another on the London Underground and she says, “We just sat on the Tube, laughing and cuddling, until he had to get off at his stop.”
She adds, “I loved working with Johannes. I find it hard to talk about Strictly because we were all quarantined. There was no audience and I never got to meet the other dancers, because we weren’t allowed to sit near each other or socialise. But thank God I got Johannes as my partner. He’s the most marvellous human being and I adore him.”
Caroline has turned playing ‘fourth fiddle’ in a TV series to an advantage – it leaves her time to pursue other interests, for which she’s becoming quite well known. She’s garnered a large following on Instagram for her garden, a lush 35-acre spread in Devon where she grows produce and flowers with such skill that Monty Don interviewed her for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.
“These are my people, my tribe,” she enthuses of her new audience of fellow gardeners. “It’s been a real joy. I’ve been going to Chelsea for years but now I’m doing short films for them and meeting Monty Don. I mean, these are the highlights of my career! How flattering it that?!”
Caroline’s gardening has led to a book deal – but not only will she write Drawn to the Garden (out next year), a personal journey of her life as a gardener, she will also illustrate it. “I’ve always drawn and painted,” she says. “It has been a really important part of my life. I’ve done 75 illustrations for the book. It really is much more work than I thought, but it’s actually been the thing I’ve enjoyed most.”
And when she isn’t busy acting, sketching, or tending her vast garden, she’s usually out on a hike. In fact, she’s such a keen rambler she’s been president of the Campaign For National Parks, which made her the perfect presenter for More4’s recent series about these treasures.
“National parks are still a big part of my life,” she says. “We live only 15 minutes from Exmoor. It’s the best place in the world if you’re keen on birds and butterflies, as I am.”
Caroline also has a happy home life with husband Sam Farmer, with whom she also shares son William, a university student aged 20. She’s clearly very proud of Sam, who previously worked in TV production but launched his own skincare brand for teens a decade ago. “He’s amazing,” she says proudly. “I mean, from nothing he did a degree in cosmetic science and last year he was President of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists. He really is an incredible human being.”
It’s 25 years since they first met on the set of Men Behaving Badly, where Sam was a runner, but Caroline says she can’t take credit for their enduring relationship. “That’s not talent, that’s luck!” she laughs. “I got lucky. I kissed a lot of frogs and then I met my prince.”
■ The Lazarus Project Series 2 returns to Sky Max and NOW in November.