BY: DINO TAKASHI

Jessica Plummer, the lead actor of the highly anticipated BBC One/ HBO Max television adaptation of JP Delaney’s bestselling psychological thriller novel The Girl Before has come a long way- with this project that took months before finding her. Plummer, formerly a part of the British female ensemble “Neon Jungle,” returns to her acting roots with this gig that she considers a big break since she started acting. As a full-time mom and actor, Plummer takes her career seriously as she has not only her own future to think about, but that of her daughter as well. “I'm doing it for her. It’s her future, for us, for our lives,” she shared.

For those who have not read or watched The Girl Before, Plummer plays the character Emma, the girl before Gugu Mabatha-Raw’s character, Jane, moves into the minimalist house designed by a reclusive architect played by David Oyelowe. Plummer’s uncanny resemblance to Mbatha-Raw’s “Jane” is hard to ignore. The author admittedly even thought that the two characters were played by the same actress at one point. 

Plummer has proven to herself that she deserves landing this role. She possesses that raw and compelling thespic gift that makes you believe in her as “Emma.” 

She has an undeniable chemistry with her co-star, Ben Hardy, and she knows what she’s doing. She  is confident and self-assured. Sometimes this quality is very rare in show business where a lot of actors tend to second guess themselves especially in this age of social media and constant feedback from fans. 

As audiences prepare for The Girl Before’s US premiere on HBO Max this year [2022], I chatted with Jessica about her life before becoming an actress as well as the process of finding a balance between being a mum and being an actress. We also had to talk about the coincidences with her co-actor Ben Hardy, her dream gig playing J-Lo if she ever has a biopic, and how she believes positive demeanor brought her to where she is now and how 2022 albeit has just started marks a milestone to her and everyone who made The Girl Before easily one of the best TV adaptations we have been waiting for this year.

Hi Jessica! How are you? 

I'm good! 

Where are you right now?

I'm in England, a place called Brighton, it's by the sea.

This is very coincidental because I talked to Ben Hardy, one of the actors in the show and he also lives in Brighton! 

You know another coincidence, his house in London is five minutes from my house! 

No way! 

Yeah! 

You were also on Eastenders, where he was on! 

What’s going on? Right? 

Anyway, I’m currently in Brooklyn, New York right now.

Nice, New Yawk! 

It’s very cold. Happy New Year! So how did you spend your New Year’s?

I went to a place called Trenton in Somerset. I went to see my mom, my grandmother and my brothers, which was really cool and we stayed ‘til New Year’s Eve. I was in bed at 1130 and looked at my phone and said Happy New Year! I got to text everybody and you know what it’s like on New Year, you can’t get through everybody and it’s anticlimactic! Three people texted me back and I just kinda went to bed! 

So what's keeping you busy these days 

I feel like right now, 2022 is a blank canvas. Switch on one hand and carry on but on the other hand it’s quite exciting because I feel like the world is my oyster. The Girl Before is out in the UK which was much anticipated. Obviously, now waiting for it to come out in the States. I am so excited and just waiting to see what comes up that aligns to what I want to do.

Before we go deeper into that, I did a little research about you being part of a girl group called “Neon Jungle”. How did that come along? What came first acting or singing? 

Acting came first. Acting is what I did since I left school and then it was actually on the same day that I had to audition for something where I had to sing and I just coincidentally had a recording on my phone singing where the guy saw and spotted me on a bench on Brick Lane, which is in East London. He asked me if I could sing and  I thought “OMG, who is this guy? He’s gonna steal my money! ”I did my research and found out he was legit and I kinda rolled with it and the next thing I know, I was in New York at the Victoria's Secret fashion show with Taylor Swift! 

What year was that? 

I think I was 21 and I'm 29 now, so eight years ago!

2014! 

There you go! It was a whirlwind! We [the group] broke up and okay that was a funny time to get off the music train and hold back to what I know and then I started acting again. Not long after that, I was pregnant with my daughter. 

I read about your daughter Noa! 

She's almost 6! She’s 6 in the summer.

How’s being a full-time mum and also being a full-time actor? 

It's really hard. My main priority in life is my daughter. I feel like with the pandemic and everything that’s going on, it slightly got easier on how to make daily life manageable. Me being a teacher…I was a primary school teacher assistant for a year when I was around 19 and I had it in my head that if I wasn’t an actor, I’d probably be a teacher! I don't know what I was thinking! When I had to homeschool my daughter, oh my goodness, it was the most stressful three months of my life. It’s tricky knowing that balance but for me the best thing is to not worry too much about the future and just roll with it as each day comes by. I’ve got a great support network that helps me with childcare and my parents and her dad’s parents and everything because at the same time it’s my career but I'm doing it for her. It’s her future, for us, for our lives. 

That sounds very impressive! 

Thank you! 

So now let’s talk about your show. I saw The Girl Before prior to it’s UK release. Are these two characters the same people? I talked to Ben [Hardy] and then he said it took a while for the production to find that actor who will play Emma and then they finally found you! I guess in some ways the role was really made for you and he [Ben Hardy] thought the project was going to be shelved. Tell us about the process, how did they find you? 

It all came through my wonderful agent who just set me aside one day--I have this thing where I am really bad at self-tapes…like really bad. So he called me and guess what?  “This project has come through, and you’re gonna be really excited because it’s not a [follow-up] self-tape. You’re gonna have a Zoom audition!” And I was like “Zoom audition? How is that any better?” Anyway, I have to audition on Zoom and I remember it was in the evening. I had my daughter with me. I stuck her in front of the TV. Everything that could've possibly gone wrong, went wrong. The postman kept knocking on the door. My phone was ringing. The connection was dropping out. My daughter fell off her trampoline halfway through. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. The fact that I got a recall [called back], God knows how, but it was all done on Zoom! It wasn't until we were doing the fittings for costume and make-up test in Bristol that I met people in the flesh which was really strange because everything has been done over the Internet!  And when they saw me, nine times out of 10, the first thing anyone would say to me and they would look at me up and down and say,  “You’re a lot taller than I thought!” Do I look short on Zoom or I am just freakishly tall but it was weird! 

Have you met Gugu  before you filmed this one? 

No I haven't. I remember googling her picture next to my picture. “We got this! We got this!” We don’t look exactly the same, you know. But when I watch it, my daughter will see the trailer, “Which one is you Mommy?” She gets confused

Exactly my thoughts too!

It’s such a compliment to be compared to Gugu Mbatha-Raw. I haven't met anybody before I was picked to come to the set. It literally felt like my first day in school. It’s like a mixture of “I’m so excited-I Can't believe I'm here- It’s insane- Oh my God-I am really scared!- Do I know what I'm doing?-What's going on?-I’m jumping in at the deep end!”

When did the filming start and when did it end? 

It started March  2021 and finished mid-June. 

How did you do the filming? Was it a lockdown taping?

The country was in lockdown but we were allowed to work. We were in a bubble where every four days, we would be doing tests and all the crew had masks on. When the guidelines changed, we just adapted to that and we were just lucky to be working, and midway through the lockdown was lifted. 

I'm just curious about this. Is the house real? 

It’s a set! You walked on to the set and it’s what it looks on the camera and it has two floors. Sometimes on set, the rooms are completely like in a different studio and sometimes it's all like how it is. It’s in a big warehouse!

I thought I was real! 

It’s insane what they managed to put together. It’s remarkable. The exterior of the house they built in a dead end road. 

For those who didn't read JP Delaney’s novel yet, how do you invite people to have an interest in seeing this show?

I feel like even if you have read the book, still watch the show. Because there’s changes. Changes have been made and JP Delaney was with us throughout the whole process and then he signed off everything that we had come up with together. It’s a thriller! The book is number one best-selling and I hope we did that justice and that we keep you on the edge of your seat. It will keep you guessing, and it's different. When I read it for the first time, I couldn’t put the script down and it was an idea that I have never seen before. The idea of this house that is almost a character in itself and being the center of all these people is just different and refreshing 

In terms of your character Emma and you as Jessica, are there any similarities with your lives? 

I think there are similarities. But I feel like [one of] the things which we share is the whole “wanting everything to be great”; however, I wear all my emotions on my sleeve. Emma wants to mask anything bad and sweep it under the rug and run away from her issues instead of dealing with them. I am the total opposite and I just want to talk about everything one hundred times! 

Are you looking forward to any similar characters moving forward? 

I love playing Emma! I love characters that are complex and have different layers painting something. I love playing that character, and it is really interesting. I love it. Would I do it again? Probably! It would be nice to maybe do something slightly more lighthearted. We just have to wait and see. 

What are you looking forward to for the rest of the year?

I moved house and that’s exciting! The Girl Before is a turning point in my career. It came out and it would be incredible to come over to the States and do something with you guys. Right now, it is an exciting time for me, and anything that  comes next is a blessing. 

Did it ever cross your mind being in a musical since you’re a good singer? 

If anyone is gonna make a movie about Jennifer Lopez’s life!  I don't know if I’m allowed to play her but I'm so obsessed with that woman! She’s probably the reason why I could act and sing. It was like why not I'm gonna go for it. She is such a force. I love her in everything that she does. Who knows? 

What did you learn about yourself during the pandemic? 

I feel like I learned a lot from my cast members. The main thing I learned about myself is that I'm a lot stronger. It's been an incredible year but has been really tricky in the past couple of years and just juggling it all and figuring it all. Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Keep pushing. 

If you were a  book, what would it be and why? 

A Harry Potter book. All of them. I feel like there's a lot going on. I mean I'm 29 and I was singing and I was a teacher once and I was a waitress. I will be a Harry Potter book because I feel like I probably quite have done a lot of that in the 29 yrs of my life!