Tamsin Greig has clarified her previous comments after she said she “probably shouldn’t have been” cast in Friday Night Dinner playing a Jewish mother.
The actor, who played Jackie Goodman in the Channel 4 sitcom, recently discussed cultural sensitivity today in relation to her character’s Jewish ancestry.
“I think, given our sensitivity today about these issues, I probably shouldn’t have been in that show,” Greig told The Telegraph earlier this month.
“We are much more conscious today than we were when that show was first aired.”
Speaking again on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour earlier today (December 14), Greig explained what she meant by her comments.
“I think it was taken slightly out of context,” Greig said. “What I meant by it was, if we were casting it now, we’d have had very, very different conversations about the necessity of casting me in it and whether the casting should have been wider.”
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She added: “Ten years ago, who knew those conversations were coming? We do things thinking, ‘Oh, that looks like a really interesting role and actually it’s about a woman trying to survive in a wild family that seems to be falling apart.’ I think at that time that was a very resonant part of people’s lives.”
On the subject of playing a Jewish role as a non-Jewish actor, Greig said: “That’s the conversation at the moment… We all make very different choices depending on the weather that surrounds us culturally, right?”
Friday Night Dinner concluded after six seasons in 2020 following the death of Paul Ritter from a brain tumour, who played Greig’s on-screen husband Martin Goodman.
The show’s creator Robert Popper is Jewish, along with cast member Tracy-Ann Oberman, who played Auntie Val in the series.
Popper recently announced that he’s working on a new sitcom called I Hate You, starring Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) and newcomer Melissa Saint. The show follows 20-something best friends Charlie and Becca and their “intense, messy friendship in today’s intense, complicated world”.
Speaking about the show, Popper said: “Having spent ten years writing a show about a super intense family, I really wanted my next one to be about super intense friends. And, since I’ve never had a friend in my life, I’m hoping this will teach me how to find one.”