Anna
Played by Laura Fraser
Starring as brewery worker Anna is Glasgow-born Laura Fraser. After training at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama, Laura has worked extensively in film and television and her work includes both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, as well as the likes of Lip Service, Peter & Wendy and One Of Us.
Tell us about The Pact.
Anna and her friends from the brewery play a drunken prank on their much-hated boss after a work party. This snap decision has horrifying consequences – one moment of poor judgement threatens to ruin the lives of Anna and everyone around her and then facing the aftermath of her drunken behaviour puts her under this extreme pressure as she’s presented with this massive moral dilemma.
You play Anna, a central member of The Pact. Can you tell us a bit about your character?
I play Anna who is about to turn 40. She’s re-evaluating her life, she feels like she’s achieved nothing – she had her kids young and she’s only now getting the confidence to go for a promotion at the brewery where she works with her friends Nancy, Lou and Cat.
The dramatic Welsh landscape plays an important role in the story. What were the locations like that you filmed in?
We got to see some of the Welsh scenery in places around Merthyr Tydfil. We filmed in two different woods, which were stunning and then most of the other locations were in the studio. We did get to see the countryside but unfortunately not as much as I wanted to. It’s absolutely beautiful and to me, parts of it look very much like Scotland.
Anna’s daughter and son are played by young Welsh actors Gabrielle Creevy and Aled ap Steffan. What was it like working with them?
Oh my god, those kids – I keep calling them kids, they’re not kids, they’re adults – I loved them! They’re just so self-possessed and instinctive and everything they do is considered and even in the small scenes, they have a little narrative going – they do a bit of improv before to get them into it, they’re always in sync with each other and they work things out. I think the fact that they’ve known each other since they were really young, when they did youth theatre together, that closeness really added to their performance. The two of them are just so inspiring. Their work ethic is incredible. They’re brilliant, they’re absolutely brilliant and I love them!
Did you enjoy filming in Wales?
I absolutely loved it! I came to Wales on holiday about 20 years ago, just for a night, so I didn’t get to do much and then I came last year for Doctor Who and again I saw nothing of Wales, only Cardiff. This time I was determined that I was going to go to Pembrokeshire, I wanted to go to Penarth and I was going to go to all of these places and then of course, with Covid you’re not allowed to go anywhere. Then we were out of lockdown and filming and it just so happened that all of my days off coincided with stricter restrictions and that meant I didn’t get to see it much, which is so frustrating. I will have to come back and see it properly when all of this is over!
I know this sounds like such a generalised statement but the Welsh people are the kindest, most generous people, they’re so sweet! There’s this culture at work where everybody gives each other presents all the time – I’ve never seen that at work. Usually you just get presents at the end but every week you see someone giving presents to somebody and you think ‘I’ll start doing that too!’ and even if it’s a wee bar of chocolate you bring it in for someone. You’d see one of the runners giving a driver a crossword book and it’s just so lovely!
Did anyone give you any presents?
Yeh! They gave me stuff too, mainly chocolate! It’s such a good bunch and we all really get on.
