Return to Paradise’s lead star Anna Samson has revealed why the season 3 romance with new character Leo (Jacob Collins-Levy) didn’t come easy.
During an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, the DI Mackenzie Clarke actor shed some light on the pair’s difficult dynamic on the set of the BBC crime comedy-drama.
“It’s actually quite hard to act a ‘lack of history’ because we’ve based performances largely on history, and what it’s supposed to mean to us,” she told us. “So to create something fresh and new requires kind of a different acting skill and a lightness to Mack that I don’t think we see.”
Samson continued: “She’s not light and easy. She’s tricky and introspective and difficult.”
John Platt//BBC
Related: Return to Paradise‘s Anna Samson reveals how season 3 pushed her to new emotional depths
Samson also explained that the new romance opens up “a different side” to her character: “We’ve seen what this type of longing [between her and Glenn] is and this type of history. So what’s someone in front of you who’s new and immediate and you don’t know them, what do they bring out in you?”
Collins-Levy’s character, Leo, enters as Dolphin Cove’s new pathologist following Glenn’s (Tai Hara) season 2 exit after his wedding to Daisy Dixon fell apart.
Hara shared his own perspective on his character’s will-they-won’t-they romance with Mack, telling Digital Spy: “As undeniable as their connection is, there’s just something that these two struggled so hard with: saying it to each other when they’re there face to face.”
This isn’t set to get any easier for the pair, with the BBC teasing that emotional conflict is on the horizon for Mack when Glenn returns just as she begins to explore a romance with Leo.
The broadcaster shared that amidst the plethora of “impossible murder cases, the biggest and most perplexing mystery of all will be Mack’s own heart” in season 3 of the Death in Paradise spin-off, which premieres tonight (6 November).
John Platt//BBC
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Speaking to the BBC about the new direction for the Glenn-Mack romance amid the introduction of Leo, Hara said: “It was brilliant – such a new dynamic. Having this complete fresh take, it really just energised and gave a whole new feeling to the series. Jacob’s a brilliant actor, and he fit into our dynamic so well.
“For me, it was a great experience to be able to delve into a completely different side of Glenn that no one’s really seen before. More hardened, a little bit jealous, but very conflicted. That really grows and bubbles over throughout the rest of the series.”
Return to Paradise season 3 begins tonight (Friday 6 November) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.