There is no doubt that Agatha Christie is one of the most influential authors in the mystery genre. Her work is beloved all over the world, with adaptations of her stories spanning across decades on screen and on stage. There is also such an innate human curiosity in finding a sense of justice and resolve, which makes detective and whodunit stories so compelling.
BritBox’s new series Towards Zero brings yet another adaptation of a classic Christie whodunit story to the screen, with a star studded cast that will bring this murder mystery to a new audience.
Shantelle Santos spoke to one of the stars of the limited series, Mimi Keene, who plays the striking Kay Elliot, the femme fatale entangled in a complicated love triangle, who’s determined and distinct demeanour will be sure to captivate audiences.
Agatha Christie’s murder mystery stories have captivated audiences around the world and have still maintained relevance in popular culture today. What excited you most about bringing this story to life?
Mimi Keene: One of the only things that I definitely knew about this project through initial meetings was that it was Agatha Christie. I’m not a massive reader, I’m more of a watcher, I love to watch! But I also coincidentally did know the story. This had been done at one point before and I had seen it, because I have a friend who’s really into Agatha Christie so I had watched some adaptations with her. So I was excited because I knew the story, and the fact that she’s iconic in the world of mystery. I tried not to get too excited, but you can’t really avoid it. You don’t want to get excited at first, because sometimes you do one meeting, and it‘s not a good fit and you get disappointed. So I try not to, but this one I was like “Well I’m going to be upset if I don’t get this.” But when I went into the initial meeting it went so well, and as stages went on I found out more about the character. Kay is one of my favourite types of characters, which I have gotten to play a few times, but they’re all very different! Different in regards to audience perception; from the beginning of the story to the end, she improves a lot. It’s also a period drama, and I’ve never done one before, so I was so excited about that! And now that I’ve done it, it is a long experience getting ready and it’s definitely more work, but when you see the finished product it’s so cool. Not many people get to see themselves in a different time, so I’m very happy that I have had that experience.
When we first see Kay, we view her as the femme fatale but we learn later on that her motivations are driven by love and we end up feeling sorry for her and the situation she’s been put in. You do a brilliant job at teetering that line where we never really feel one way or the other with her, so how was it having to convey those emotions and feelings over three episodes?
Mimi Keene: I think with any of those characters the main reason why it has that vibe is not because of a lack of confidence, but because she is so confident. But even the most outwardly confident people still have insecurities and have feelings of low confidence. So when that is the case, it’s important that you don’t just flip the character from being really composed and having built a wall around themselves, to suddenly falling open with everything pouring out, because I don’t think that’s realistic for that type of character. And because it is a real type of person, a lot of people are like that. So if I’m ever playing that type of character, especially if it’s a character who takes a lot pride in the way they look, how they present themselves, and that they’re always ready and poised, it’s important that anytime where she’s opening up and you’re seeing the vulnerable side of her, that the person playing the character (me) is always making an effort to cover that vulnerability back up and to also lower their walls at the same time. You want to make it look like a bit of a struggle for them as if they’re trying to fight it, because it’s what makes it feel realistic. At least that’s what I tried to do!
There have been so many different types of adaptations of Towards Zero over the years, what different source materials did you look into to prepare for this role?
Mimi Keene: Yeah! Funnily enough, it was a Miss Marple, that’s what it was! BBC did a Miss Marple a while ago. But my friend really likes anything by Agatha Christie and because she’s a really big fan, it made me a bigger fan, so we watched the Miss Marple version. The story is obviously the same but it is still very different, but helpful because I could get a lot from watching the actor that played Kay originally, in terms of the vibe of the story and how the character fit in. We were able to do it in a fresh and modern way, maybe not in the sense of the story, especially with regards to the women. Women have always been the same, it’s a difference of the way that women are now being portrayed in stories. We feel like women carry a lot of everything, and now we’re able to have the opportunity to display that more in movies and TV shows. But I feel like the way Agatha Christie wrote female characters was ahead of the times. So the energy was still there even if it was an older adaptation, but it was helpful in that sense. It helped me anyway! And it’s also just a really good watch! But this adaptation is a little bit more sexy now being able to portray her in a more real and open way!
How would you describe Kay Elliot and her relationship with Neville and Audrey?
Mimi Keene: Kay is very much, for the majority of the story, outside of the loop. But she thinks other people are outside of the loop, specifically with regards to the love triangle. I don’t think anyone ever wants to be a part of a love triangle, but if you are a part of one you only ever want to be part of the two that are actually together. I think that’s what Kay originally believes to be the case and she’s quite confident about it. She’s almost feeling a bit sorry for Audrey – not in a nice way, in a mean way – like “Oh, Audrey’s pathetic. Like wow how embarrassing. You’re coming on our honeymoon to hang out with us, it’s so weird.” Whereas I think what’s going on in Audrey’s mind is probably more like, “You’re actually going to let your husband take you on your honeymoon to his family home where he knows his ex wife is going to be? How embarrassing.” So everyone thinks that everyone else should be embarrassed. But in the end it turns out that Kay is definitely the one on the outside. There’s quite an intense scene where that comes to everyone’s forefront. Where I personally would’ve reacted a lot more. All she did was shout so she was quite controlled. But yeah she’s a bit overconfident and doesn’t really understand the dynamic properly, and how toxic and messed up it really is. So by the end they’ve swapped. I don’t want to ruin it, but there is a point where I think things have switched so much in the other direction, that if it was anyone else, you would just leave. But Kay stays, and it just makes the whole thing very uncomfortable, in a good way though! So I think it adds a bit of something even though you might get a bit of second hand cringe from certain characters. Then obviously Kay gets her own back a little bit and brings someone else in. But they’re all really toxic. No one’s innocent in the love triangle, there’s not really one victim, and everyone’s being punished a little bit. There’s also an energy between Audrey and Kay, that’s completely separate from Neville. It’s more of a competition between them two as women, as people, and mind and power wise, that they almost don’t really care about him that much. So the dynamic is complicated.
How would you describe Towards Zero in a few words for people who don’t know anything about Agatha Christie’s work?
Mimi Keene: Dramatic dinner parties. Lots of eye contact and no words. Speaking with our eyes. Love triangles, and obviously, murder.
Towards Zero is now streaming on BritBox.
