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Maria Sten talks about stepping into the spotlight as Frances Neagley, what fans will learn about the famously controlled character and the cracks we finally get to see in her armour.

She also reveals how she reacted when she found out Neagley was getting her own series, whether there was pressure moving out of Reacher’s shadow, and who she thinks is actually more dangerous.
As Maria puts it: “Reacher’s a silverback gorilla and Neagley’s a mountain lion.”

Plus, she talks about what she hopes die-hard Reacher fans will take away from the series, the message Neagley sends to young women and spending time in London.

#MariaSten #Neagley #Reacher Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Transcript
00:00Reacher is a silverback gorilla and Neelie is a mountain lion.
00:02Hello.
00:03Hi.
00:04Everyone was like, she is giving London.
00:06I was like, I'm trying.
00:08I'm trying my best.
00:09You are giving London.
00:10I'm sipping my Earl Grey.
00:12I have my little, you know.
00:14Welcome to London.
00:15You do look very quintessential.
00:16Well, thank you.
00:17Thank you very much.
00:18I try.
00:19This is unbelievable.
00:20So when you got the phone call that finally she gets her own gig,
00:23just what was the reaction?
00:27Slight disbelief, I think.
00:29More than anything.
00:31Because that never happens, you know.
00:34I think I was, yeah, I was sort of wondering, oh, this sounds amazing,
00:42but are we actually going to be able to do this, you know.
00:47And I am so, so thrilled to be here now that we actually went and did it.
00:53Yes, you did it.
00:54It was absolutely, you are so amazing.
00:56Oh, thank you.
00:57Such a controlled character.
00:58What do we see in this that we don't get to see in Reacher?
01:03We get to, of course, see Neely's backstory.
01:07We get to live in her world.
01:09We get to see her relationship with her father.
01:13We get to see her at work doing her job in a way that is her day-to-day life
01:20that is, of course, different from when she's coming into Reacher's world.
01:24We get to experience her vulnerability and the cracks in her armor that slowly come to fruition along the way
01:35as the season progresses.
01:36Well, she is an amazing right-hand woman, we know that, but was the pressure on to kind of make
01:42her hold her own?
01:43Yeah, I think, of course, I felt because of the success of Reacher, you know, that I had such big
01:51shoes to fill and really wanted to do it justice,
01:56wanted to stay true to the character that Lee Child created, that we created, that Nick Santora wrote in the
02:05show Reacher,
02:06and now she gets to stand on her own.
02:09But there is pressure to get it right, always.
02:11I think when you're doing something that has already lived for a while, and especially doing something that has a
02:17large following already.
02:19And I just, I wanted, I really wanted to make sure that we gave Neely her due time.
02:27You did.
02:28So after episode eight, what do you want the die-hard fans to think about Neely?
02:35Where's she going to go now?
02:36I think that, of course, is going to be the question on everyone's minds.
02:39Um, after her, her entire life has been basically turned upside down.
02:45Um, and, uh, and will she, when will she get to see Reacher again?
02:51Um, but I think, yeah, more than anything, like, wow, what the hell is next for her?
02:57Um, and, uh, and I hope that they will have hope for her.
03:01Yeah, sitting on the end of our seats, that's so exciting.
03:03So when Reacher's got the size and the muscles, Neely's got the brains, who's the more dangerous one?
03:08Oh, that's, that's, uh, topic of much contention.
03:13Um, I think that they're, they're lethal in their own ways, you know.
03:18Uh, my favorite analogy is, is Reacher is a silverback gorilla and Neely is a mountain lion, you know.
03:24And the silverback gorilla can throw one punch and knock you out.
03:28And the mountain lion is going to, uh, like, attack, uh, pounce, you know.
03:34So I think they, they have their, their ways of, of being lethal and, um, in their own right.
03:39I love that.
03:39You guys should get tattoos of those animals.
03:42I know, maybe I'll get a mountain lion at some point.
03:45And who would you not want to take on if you had to face one of them?
03:52Oh, I mean, again, they're, they're both, they're both pretty, um, I mean, neither of them.
04:00I would not want to face neither of them.
04:02I think there is a line from a Reacher book saying, the Reacher's saying he would never want to meet
04:06Neely in a dark alley.
04:07Uh, and I second that, certainly.
04:10But I wouldn't want to meet Reacher in a dark alley either.
04:13Uh, if you can get through the alley.
04:14Exactly.
04:15And just finally, um, young girls out there, you playing this character, it means so much to women and people
04:22out there.
04:22What's the message do you think that Neely's sending, and you're sending, with these strong female characters like this?
04:28I think, I hope that the message is, be you, unapologetically you as you are.
04:36You, you don't have to try and fit in, uh, just be yourself.
04:41Oh, I love that.
04:43Thank you so much.
04:43Fish and chips today, is it, or bangers and mash?
04:46Fish and chips.
04:47Perfect.
04:47Mushy peas or normal peas?
04:48That's a big question.
04:49Oh, normal peas.
04:51Have a lovely time.
04:52Thank you so much.
04:53Appreciate it.
04:54You're amazing.
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