Uncovering the dark side: Ruth Wilson in an exclusive interview

English actress Ruth Wilson is known for her performances in 'as Alice Morgan in the BBC TV psychological crime drama Luther, and as Alison Lockhart in the Showtime drama 'The Affair'. She is currently seen as Mrs Coulter in fantasy television series 'His Dark Materials', which is based on the novel series of the same name by penned by Phillip Pullman…

Excerpts from an interview:

How did you come to be involved with His Dark Materials?

Jane Tranter (Executive Producer, 'Bad Wolf') called me up and asked if I wanted to play Mrs Coulter. I'd heard of 'His Dark Materials' - I heard about it as a stage play about 15 years ago - but I'd never read the books. I thought, 'Well, I better read these, obviously, before accepting the job,' and they were amazing. I got hooked on them. Especially book two: I was just turning the pages, taking it with me everywhere. Add to that that Mrs Coulter is such an incredible character, and I couldn't really say no.

How would you describe Mrs Coulter?

Mrs Coulter is one of the main antagonists in the show. She is a ruthless, power-hungry, glamorous, manipulative woman. She takes a certain liking to Lyra Belacqua, our young heroine. One of the reasons I took the job was because she's described as this cesspit of moral filth which I quite liked! She has been described by others as the mother of all evil which is also very fun to play. Her life and her journey are intrinsically connected to Lyra and her journey. You realise that Mrs Coulter ends up following Lyra around, chasing her, in search of her, in a way; and through this search, she discovers things about herself.

It's an iconic role that's been played on screen and on the stage before. Were you nervous to take it on?

Yes, dead nervous. The character is so exciting, and interesting, and bold, and colourful, and there are so many things to explore with her, so that really excited me. But yes, the books have a huge fan base, and she has a huge following. People love her and despise her in equal measure. It's interesting: when we were exploring the script early on with Tom Hooper (Executive Producer/Director), we were looking at the relationship with dæmons. It was quite interesting about how Mrs Coulter relates with her dæmon and how we can put that on screen. In the book, she's almost like the white witch. She's very unknowable, Mrs Coulter. She drops in, you don't know her intentions, she's cold, manipulative, calculating, but you don't quite know what she really believes in or what she wants. I think that her monkey often gives away her real inner feelings. We wanted to explore her showing those shades herself but also, we'd bring in some of the understanding of who Mrs Coulter is, perhaps earlier than in the book.

What research did you do for the role?

I did research on monkeys because I was really intrigued by the idea of this spirit animal or this soulmate that you're attached to and I was really interested in what Philip was trying to explore with these dæmons. Personally, I felt that a dæmon was the animal reflection of yourself and the relationship Mrs Coulter has with her dæmon is unique. Everyone else's dæmons talk; hers doesn't. Everyone else's dæmons have a name; hers doesn't. I felt there was something really interesting in the dynamic between the two that was at the heart of who Mrs Coulter is. I felt Mrs Coulter had a lot of monkey in her that she'd suppressed, so I wanted to work out how to move like a monkey and bring some monkey things into Mrs Coulter. You'll see in moments of high distress, Mrs Coulter becomes more monkey-ish. That was why I wanted to bring in the animal side of the journey. Perhaps it's like the animal instincts that Mrs Coulter has tucked away to her own detriment, so they come out when she least expects it.

How did you get the dæmons on screen?

In the end, they decided that we would have a series of puppets that will help us, as well as the camera team, and also the CGI guys on the other side. They're all there to work out what the dæmon might be doing in that scene. Then that will be filmed. We would do a puppet pass, which is purely for the puppet. If the puppet was at my feet, the camera would just be on that space by my feet, where they could then paint in later what that dæmon is doing. There are very specific moments where the dæmons come into play and they represent the inner feelings of the character. They're vital to the piece. Without that, it wouldn't be the show it is. It's a massive process – after we'd finished filming, they had another six months of painting on all these incredible animals and giving them personality and character.

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- 'His Dark Materials' airs every Sunday at 9 pm

on Star World