Laura Haddock has said it was a “huge decision” to find the right role to return to acting after having her second child.
The Transformers actress shares son Pip, four, and daughter Margot, two, with Peaky Blinders actor Sam Claflin, from whom she split last year.
Haddock, 34, said she was keen to return to acting but anxious to find the right project that would allow her to strike a balance between work and home life.
She said she was thrilled when she received the script for Netflix series White Lines, written by Money Heist creator Alex Pina, about a woman who leaves her quiet life behind to investigate her brother’s disappearance in Ibiza.
She told the PA news agency: “(It was) a huge decision. Two babies at home and I wanted to make sure that if I was going to go back to work, which I really wanted to, that it was going to be the right job and I was going to be able to have that balance and have a real affinity for the character.
“There was too many things for me to say no, it’s not really about saying no really, cos I’m a jobbing, auditioning actress, so when something comes in and you love it, you put yourself down on tape for it and you hope for the best.
“And that is what I did with this particular job, but there were lots of things to consider, but it was remarkable, really just an incredible journey with an amazing cast.
“I’ve watched all 10 episodes and I have to say I’m really excited about people being able to jump into this show and binge watch it and I think it’s the ultimate form of escapism.
“I hope it will give people a real sense of excitement and it’s hugely entertaining, it’s really emotional, it’s high-octane drama, and I think that is what we all need and we are all craving a little bit of that at the moment, so I’m super excited about people watching it.”
Haddock said she found it strange watching the show – which was filmed in Ibiza and Spain last summer – while she was in lockdown.
She said: “I will never take being able to travel freely for granted again, because as much as I feel really lucky, in that I’ve got a garden space so my little ones can go and run around outside, you’re still confined to one space and it feels unnatural, doesn’t it?
“Watching the show made me desperately want to get the opportunity to go back and do a second series.”
Discussing the potential for more episodes, she said: “I know that everybody is still working and chugging away in the writers’ room and everybody is keeping their fingers crossed that we get to make a second season, but we just don’t know.
“Nobody knows, nobody has got any answers, and I think that is the strangest thing about this situation – ordinarily there would be someone that you could go to and say, ‘Have you got the answer? Can you just give it to me?’, but nobody does so we are all just crossing our fingers and waiting and we will see, hopefully.”
– White Lines launches on Netflix on May 15.
