PROFILE
FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES, SHARON HORGAN HAS CEMENTED HERSELF AS ONE OF TV’S MOST PROLIFIC TALENTS. BUT, AS SHE TELLS CHARLOTTE OLIVER, IT’S TAKEN A LOT OF WRITING AND A LIFE CHANGE TO HAVE THE COURAGE OF HER CONVICTIONS
It’s 11am and I’m in bed with Sharon Horgan. Or rather, she’s sitting on the bed of her London home as we speak via Zoom. Still, there’s a level of intimacy that isn’t often afforded when interviewing a celebrity. Horgan is allowing me access to her inner sanctum, which – from the rattan bed frame to the profusion of soft toys behind her – is both eclectic and cosy. While unconventional for an A-lister, this lack of ceremony is somewhat in keeping for a writer, actor and producer who gives so much of herself to her audience.
From her groundbreaking BBC sitcoms Pulling and Motherland to Channel 4’s Catastrophe and last year’s critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, the 52-year-old has mined the depths of human experience with her work, charting singledom, marriage, motherhood and divorce as she herself has reached similar life events. She’s emphatic that her oeuvre isn’t autobiographical, but it’s certainly reflective of her own experiences. Even when she hasn’t penned the project herself, she ostensibly pours everything she has into her performance, cracking herself open for the sake of the story.
‘With every character you play, you really do feel like they’re a part of you,’ Horgan says, sitting cross-legged and leaning forward in thought. ‘Even if you don’t necessarily feel the most connected to their story to begin with, you kind of end up growing into them – and it always feels quite sad saying goodbye.’
The story we’re here to discuss today is the upcoming BBC One series Best Interests, for which Horgan has plunged herself into the portrayal of her character, Nicci, starring opposite Michael Sheen as her husband, Andrew. The pair play parents of two daughters – one of whom, Marnie, has a rare case of muscular dystrophy – and they find themselves desperately fighting the legal system when doctors decide that it’s in Marnie’s best interests to turn off her ventilated support.
As a mother in despair, Horgan is mesmerising, disappearing into her character so convincingly that, true to form, it’s almost impossible not to believe she is Nicci. I’m speaking to her a day after watching the final episode and I’m still feeling its gut-wrenching punch; as a viewer, the show is heartrending, and I can only imagine the impact it had on the actors. She nods when I share my thoughts, explaining that she almost didn’t take the part.
‘If I’m really honest, the last thing I wanted to do was something like this,’ Horgan admits. ‘I was just a bit wrecked from coming
