‘My death haunted Kendall Roy right to the end’
Tom Morley played Andrew “Doddy” Dodds, the waiter killed when Kendall Roy crashes his car into a pond in Succession’s season one finale
I was incredibly excited to land a part on this big new HBO show, even if it was a brief stint. Walking on to the set for Tom and Shiv’s wedding, which was filmed at Eastnor Castle near Gloucester, felt immense. I thought my character Doddy was a sweet kid, kind of lost and making his way in catering. I’d done some waitering myself, serving canapes at posh events. For health and safety reasons, we weren’t supposed to eat leftover food, so I used to eat out of the bins. That’s something Doddy would do. I once walked into a mirror and dropped a tray of champagne flutes, too, so Doddy felt familiar.
When I spilled wine on Logan Roy, there was no acting required. I was genuinely scared to be working with Brian Cox. He was lovely but as soon as we started filming, he transformed into this tyrant. It shook me but it was exhilarating. Logan called Doddy a jerk, a prick and told him to fuck off. Nowadays people ask Brian to tell them to fuck off. I was an early adopter!
The sequence in the car with Kendall, played by Jeremy Strong, was a night shoot, which made it more thrilling. Jeremy had only just learned to drive manual, so it was lucky we didn’t end up in the lake for real. When you snort ketamine on TV, you use glucose powder, which has a slight kick. After that scene, they go on this doomed errand to find cocaine and swerve to avoid a deer. There was an animal trainer on-set, walking around with a deer on a lead at 2am, which was a first for me.
I’d had diving lessons in a tank but, unfortunately, when they propelled the car into the lake, it flipped on its back. My diving skills weren’t up to escaping an upside down car, so a stuntman did the underwater shots instead. When the episode aired, the most common texts from friends were “Are you OK?’ and “This is why you don’t do drugs”. It was only 20 minutes of screen time but the storyline had staying power. Doddy’s death haunted Kendall. It even came up in the finale, so the ripples lasted four seasons. When I watch it, I still find myself willing Kendall to rescue me.
‘Some takes were too gruesome for BBC compliance’
Maya Sondhi played Line of Duty stalwart PC Maneet Bindra, who had her throat cut by members of an organised crime group in season five
Killing off Maneet was all my fault. We were at a boozy lunch before making series five. I’d had some wine and said: “What are you going to do with Maneet? Why not kill her? It’d be really shocking.” Jed Mercurio, the Line of Duty creator, said: “Nah, you don’t really want to die.” But he must’ve thought about it because a few weeks later, he rang and said: “I could give you some great scenes, kill you off, then we can chat about your own writing.” I was thrilled. Jed’s company produced my police procedural, DI Ray – and I got to go out of Line of Duty with a bang!
It was a blast to film. There aren’t many Asian stuntwomen around, so I always do my own stunts. Fantastic fun, if not great for insurance purposes. We had special effects guys who’d worked on Game of Thrones. They built a jetty for the throat-slashing, then two guys laid down underneath it, pumping fake blood. I got a special neck cast done, then make-up created a slit throat. It looked so realistic. I took a selfie sitting on the toilet with this slit throat. There were gruesome full-frontal takes we couldn’t use because of BBC compliance. The two actors who killed me were so sweet. I told them: “If this was real life, I could take you both.”
My violent death was powerful because Maneet was such a gentle character. When it aired, 8m people watched me die. My mum was a bit traumatised. Fans tweeted me, going:“You’re not really dead, are you? You can’t be!” They didn’t quite believe it because the show was known for twists and turns. But I got two series of DI Ray out of it, which more than compensated. The scene featured on Gogglebox. “I can die happy now,” I thought. “And so can poor Maneet.”
Maya Sondhi is the creator and writer of DI Ray, which is available on ITVX
‘Viewers thought Adriana’s soul was going up to heaven’
Drea de Matteo played mob wife Adriana La Cerva, who got killed in the woods in season five of The Sopranos
I found out Adriana was going to get whacked while sitting on a kerb with Sopranos showrunner David Chase. I was wearing a neck brace because I’d just filmed a car crash scene with James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano. David sat me down and said: “I’m going to shoot it two ways: one where you die, one where you get away. Nobody will know until it airs.” The Sopranos was such a boys’ club. Guys would get called into the office for meetings. I was pulled aside on the street.
People think filming the scene must have been hellish but it wasn’t. Because I had so little dialogue, it was a relief. I just had to sit in the car and cry. I know how to do that. Adriana is killed by Silvio, played by Steven Van Zandt, and I was more concerned about making Steven feel comfortable. He was upset that he had to pull me out of the car by my hair but I told him not to worry. He also objected to calling me a cunt but I was like: “It’s OK! I’ll call you a cunt first. Let’s fucking go!”
David insisted on not showing the moment of death. He told me he loved Adriana and didn’t want to see her actually get killed. So she crawls across the forest floor to get away, then you hear gunshots as the camera pans up. Some fans interpreted that as her soul going up to heaven. Stevie went on Jay Leno’s show and he asked: “Is she really dead?” Stevie said: “What the fuck do you think I was doing out there? Shooting squirrels?” That was confirmation for anyone clinging to the hope that she’d survived. My parents couldn’t watch it. Fans freaked out. I got messages saying: “I just cancelled HBO in protest.”
I won an Emmy for the role. I used to hide it away in the bathroom but during the pandemic, I put it on the mantelpiece to celebrate my past. We were the godfathers. We redefined what TV could do. Twenty years later, people are still being moved by Adriana’s death.
Drea de Matteo is the co-founder of clothing brand Ultrafree
‘My deep-fried death got a record number of complaints’
Lisa Faulkner played MI5 agent Helen Flynn, who had her head shoved into a deep fat fryer by a far-right leader in Spooks
I auditioned for Zoe, the role that ultimately went to Keeley Hawes. I’d done loads of research into MI5, read Stella Rimington’s book and was super-excited about playing a spy. Before I’d even left the building, my agent rang and said: “They say you’re not right for Zoe but there’s another character they’d love you to play. She’s in it for two episodes. They’re going to sell her as a cast regular – then she dies.” I was happy. I’d rather have that plotline than be sitting at a desk for the whole series.
The deep-fat fryer was actually full of water but they put a layer of oil on top for the right consistency, then used dry ice for smoke. When I put my head in it, it had this horrible oily texture. I couldn’t wait to wash my hair afterwards. Kevin McNally played the terrorist who tortured me. I’d worked with his wife, Phyllis Logan, on Holby City. She was lovely, so it was nice to be killed by her husband. I got the impression Kevin enjoyed it. We all did. It’s fun doing action scenes, rather than walking and talking.
There were three stages to my demise: first, they put my hand in the burning hot oil, next they shoved my face into it and then shot me in the head. What a way to go. I got a great funeral, too. Loads of spies looking sombre, then it was whispered into the ear of the boss Harry that Kevin’s character had been assassinated as retribution. Very Godfather-esque. Obviously I wasn’t there but it was good to see. Apparently JJ Abrams showed my death to his writers’ room and said: “This is how you do it!” I’d love him to think: “Wonder what she’s doing now? Let’s cast her in something!”
Viewers were so shocked, it got 250 complaints – the most for anything that year. I took it as a compliment. Years later, my daughter came across it and said it was awful. I thought, “God, you can find anything online, can’t you?”
My death raised the stakes for Spooks. Viewers never knew who might die next. Killing off your stars became a thing that dramas did. Now I’m a TV chef, I often use deep-fat fryers. It clearly didn’t put me off.
‘Playing a corpse is one of the hardest things I ever did’
Kristine Sutherland played Buffy’s mother Joyce Summers, who died of a brain aneurysm in The Body, a landmark episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
At the end of season three, I told Joss Whedon, the showrunner, I was moving abroad. He said: “Are you coming back?” When I told him it was only for a year, he said: “Good, because I need to kill you.” That was a surprise. It worked well because Buffy went off to college and didn’t need her mom for a while, then I returned for two more seasons, waiting to die. When the script finally arrived, it resonated strongly because my own mother had a brain aneurysm at around the same age.
Playing a corpse for an entire episode is one of the hardest things I ever did. When Buffy finds me on the couch and says “Mom?” it broke my heart, but I couldn’t show it. I had to lie as still as possible in this awkward position. I wore contact lenses to make my eyes milky. They used CGI to airbrush out the pulse in my carotid artery. It was emotional lying there. At times, tears flowed down my face – grief for my own parents, for Buffy, for everybody who had lost a family member.
The hardest part was the fight scene that happened after I was taken to the morgue. A vampire sits up and attacks Buffy. It was a long sequence and I was never sure when the cameras were on me. I just took a deep breath and held it, while all this chaos happened around me. That mortuary slab was like ice. Thank goodness they put a pad under me so I didn’t get cold.
Amid all the supernatural action, my death felt real. Nobody took a stake and went: “Oof!” It was when mortality hit home. I lost my dad young, so could relate to these kids having to comprehend death for the first time. At every fan convention, people tell me how it touched or helped them. It opened conversations and still does.
‘At one point, my whole body started to shake’
Cyril Nri played Lance Sullivan, who was killed with a golf club in a homophobic attack in Russell T Davies’s Cucumber
I’m often wary of playing the black guy who dies, but Cucumber was totally different. It wasn’t only a gift of a part – it told a truth about some liaisons in gay society. When meeting up with strangers, especially in the wee small hours behind closed doors, you’ve got to be careful.
All the warning signs were there. Everything about this guy screamed: “Stay the fuck away!” Yet it’s telling how desperate people are for love, especially if you’ve hidden in your life. You forgive and overlook red flags until the point you’re in trouble. When I researched how many deaths happen in and around Canal Street [Manchester’s “gay village”], it was sobering. People seek intimacy but settle for lust.
You see little of the killer blow. It’s mainly in the face. It was a golf club because it’s the sort of weapon likely to be in that guy’s room. It’s horrific to linger on someone’s face during their last moments. First, it’s shock and indignation, then sadness and regret. It’s not cartoonish violence. There’s a visceral realness to it.
It’s a long scene and filming took for ever. I had to remain still in the wound makeup with blood being pumped out. It was difficult to remain emotionally in the right place for four hours in closeup. At one point, my whole body started to shake. Lance’s life had been soundtracked by Eurythmics and Annie Lennox, so I had those songs in my head as I sat there. When you see a tear roll down my face, it’s Lance crying, not me. I still have a Lance playlist on my phone.
When the episode aired, I was in a play in Norwich. I went back to my dressing room and my phone was full. I’m not on social media but a friend had screenshot pages and pages of reactions to Lance’s episode, saying: “You’re trending!” I sat there, half out of costume, reading all these lovely messages. Owen Jones wrote about it in the Guardian. After 30 years in the profession, I got a Bafta nomination. To play a gay part and get that huge reaction was fantastic. Just two days ago, a young man approached me and told me it changed his life.
