Joanne Froggatt: ‘I’ve paid my mortgage by the skin of my teeth’

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Joanne Froggatt has spent 28 years perfecting her craft and is now one of Britain’s best on-screen talents.

It’s hard to imagine a world in which talented actress Joanne was struggling to find enough work to pay her bills, but the 44-year-old has recalled a period in her early 20s when things weren’t easy.

‘I’ve never come close to quitting acting but there were times when I thought, “Oh God, what would I do if I didn’t do this?” and when I’ve had the last mortgage payment in the bank thinking, “Oh, am I going to get a job before that goes?”, which I have managed by the skin of my teeth,’ she explained to Metro.

‘I have wondered if I was doing the right thing but that’s just part of life isn’t it? You have that in any career you’re in and I love acting.’

With knowledge that only comes through experience, Joanne has learnt to ride the ‘whole rollercoaster of life’ and deciphered that things often work out how they are meant to.

‘You struggle and you thrive, you miss out on opportunities, and you gain opportunities. There’s a saying, which I’m going to completely mess up, it’s good or bad, never believe your own press,’ she wisely shared and didn’t mess up.

Joanne has learnt to ride out the highs and lows (Picture: Bertie Watson)

Joanne, 44, expanded: ‘When things are going well, enjoy every minute, but don’t pat yourself on the back too much because you will go through times of struggle.

‘When times are a bit trickier just know they will pass. Don’t berate yourself for any choices you’ve made, learn from the mistakes and deal with the consequences to move forward.’

This is especially important when working as an actor. The nature of the audition process means that rejection is common for most people.

‘There are parts you miss out on that you go, “Yeah okay, I see why they got it” and then there are other times you go “No, I think I would have done that better” or “We actually played that quite similarly”.

‘You’ve got to roll with the punches. Often it’s got nothing to do with you and just that they wanted it to go in a different direction. It’s a tricky lesson, but you become better at letting things go when you’ve been doing it for a while.’

If Joanne’s acting career ever grinds to a halt we think she’d have a great career in motivational speaking. That hypothetical scenario doesn’t look likely as Joanne is very much thriving and is about to star in the new Paramount Plus series MobLand.

Tom and Joanne enjoyed working together (Picture: Luke Varley/Paramount Plus)

It’s a dream job for Joanne who’s always wanted the challenge of an ‘action-packed and high stakes’ gangster show that feels far removed from anything she’s been around.

In the upcoming release, Joanne is playing Jan Da Souza, the wife of ‘fixer’Harry Da Souza, portrayed by Tom Hardy. The Guy Ritchie-directed series also features Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan as Maeve and Conrad Harrigan, the heads of an organised crime family.

Joanne ‘loved’ working with Tom, 47, stating that they have the same taste when selecting a direction for their characters: ‘Tom and I wanted to bring in that these two are equals. She’s the one person who can be a voice of reason in Harry’s life and bring him up on things so that was a fun dynamic to play.’

‘Tom’s a brilliant actor – everything he does on set is great,’ she continued. ‘He’s such a fantastic scene partner as he’s a forensic thinker.’

Making sure Jan felt like a real person was something that Joanne took much care with. ‘I love that process of trying to build a backstory, and I got lots of creative freedom,’ she explained.

‘You don’t have to like every character you play but you do have to understand them.

A gangster series was on Joanne’s dream jobs list. She is pictured here working with Lara Pulver who plays Bella Harrigan in Mobland (Picture: Luke Varley/Paramount Plus)

‘I like Jan,’ Joanne quickly added, but also pointed out she doesn’t want to adopt any of her traits. The gangster’s wife is complicit in the criminal underbelly so that makes sense!

It wasn’t just Tom she enjoyed working with – Joanne recalled the fun scenes she shared with Pierce, 71, and Helen, 79, whose characters she describes as ‘bonkers’. What Joanne found most inspiring was how much the acting titans still loved their jobs.

‘To see them still having so much fun was lovely – that’s the key to success. If you’re enjoying the process that makes for better work because you want to be there,’ she said.

This is an early lesson Joanne also had instilled by her parents Keith and Ann Froggatt. The couple ran a corner shop before turning their attention to a sheep farm with Joanne even helping out with the milking and deliveries.

‘It was my dad’s dream to have a farm, and that’s what my parents did,’ she recalled.

‘One thing my parents always told me was to have a go at something you enjoy. They’d say “Find something you love, and you’ll have a much happier life because when you’re passionate, you’ll do your best”.’

Her passion for acting started at a young age (Picture: Youtube)

Joanne found that passion young, leaving her family home in Whitby at age 13 to attend theatre school in Maidenhead. Packing her bags and moving five hours away was made easier because she knew what she wanted.

‘I’ve always wanted to be an actor since I can remember. Before I even knew I could do it as a job, I just knew I wanted to be on TV having all these adventures,’ she stated.

One of Joanne’s earliest memories was her grandmother recording What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? on VHS. ‘It was not a very age-appropriate movie for me to be watching but I was obsessed with that film, and these two women acting so grotesquely towards each other. I thought “Oh you can play all these people that aren’t like you – how much fun that would be”.’

Her hard work paid off with Joanne, still a teenager, being cast as Zoe Tattersall in Coronation Street.

She’s gone on to impress with leading roles in Angela Black, Liar, Breathtaking and Downtown Abbey, which will soon be getting a third movie. Joanne says that fans can expect the upcoming film to bring back the ‘heart of Downton’.

‘We come to the core of the family and the servants, what the future will be and looking back at where the family have got to now. It’s a beautiful full-circle moment that it comes to at the end,’ she teased.

She won the Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie for her role in Downton Abbey (Picture: REUTERS)

Her time as servant Anna Bates marks a huge personal career high for her, having won a Golden Globe for the portrayal. ‘I’ll be forever grateful. It was a nerve-wracking, fabulous fairytale night. I’ll never forget it.’ Joanne also thinks it marked a turning point for British TV.

‘There was a stage where reality TV came in and it was all the rage. There wasn’t much drama being made in the UK. That was sad but then eventually it came good again and Downton Abbey was one of the first shows to sort of bring back the eagerness for good drama.

‘It’s been amazing to ride it all out and still be around to tell the tale,’ she summarised.

Was she ever tempted to take part in reality TV? ‘No, never tempted, 100% no. I’m an actor. My personal life is not for sale.’ However, when it comes to watching, she is a Gogglebox fan. To unwind Joanne also loves a good documentary because that way she isn’t analysing editorial choices.

Nearly three decades into her professional acting career, Joanne still talks about her craft with an undeniable enthusiasm. As for what the future holds, Joanne hopes to play more characters that are the complete antithesis of her.

‘I loved playing Mary Ann Cotton – the first known female serial killer. The character was so sociopathic, psychopathic, whatever you want to call her, that it was so opposite from anything I am. I’d enjoy doing something along those lines again,’ she explained.

She is feeling optimistic about the acting industry too. ‘The way women are depicted has evolved, and it’s still evolving in the right way, which is exciting to see,’ she stated.

MobLand begins on Paramount Plus March 30

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