Connie Nielsen on her steamy new thriller about a woman whose life is upended by a head injury

From Wonder Woman to wanton woman: Hollywood star Connie Nielsen on her steamy new thriller about a woman whose life is upended by a head injury

  • Connie Nielsen starred as Hippolyta in Wonder Woman and Lucilla in Gladiator
  • Danish actress, 56, is returning to screens as Jo Harding in thriller Close To Me
  • Based on novel by Amanda Reynolds, Jo tries to piece together life after injury  


She was warrior queen Hippolyta in the Wonder Woman movies and Lucilla, Maximus’s lover, in Gladiator, but now Connie Nielsen has swapped Hollywood for Hastings to make Channel 4’s new psychological thriller Close To Me.

Danish actress Connie plays Jo Harding, a woman trying to piece together the details of her life after a fall has left her with a brain injury and erased her memory of the past 13 months. And as she does so, she finds herself on a fraught voyage of discovery involving her husband Rob (Christopher Eccleston), her best friend Cathy (Susan Lynch), her two grown-up children and her parents.

‘Close To Me is a psychological detective story and there’s a lot for Jo to uncover,’ explains Connie, 56. 

Connie Nielsen, 56, is returning to screens in Channel 4’s new thriller Close To Me. Pictured: Connie as Jo Harding and Christopher Eccleston as husband Rob

‘At first glance she seems to have this almost boringly perfect life – handsome husband, great kids, great house, great job as a translator – but once she awakens from her induced coma, she starts to get this gnawing feeling in her head that there’s something she needs to know, something those closest to her are keeping from her. 

‘And that may be a very big secret. Will she be revealed to be a horrific person who needs to make amends – or a victim?’

What becomes clear is that Jo’s life wasn’t as harmonious as she thought it was prior to her fall. Estate agent husband Rob seems unwaveringly supportive but also a little twitchy around his wife. 

And when she’s reacquainted with Cathy, her best friend reveals that a major falling out just prior to Jo’s fall meant the two women weren’t talking to one another.

Based on the novel by Amanda Reynolds, the six-part thriller makes for edgy viewing as Jo suffers nightmares that become disturbingly dark. There are steamy scenes too as Jo’s condition sees her engage in some uncharacteristic behaviour. 

‘Jo’s lack of inhibition not only manifests itself in the way she talks to people – she screams at her son in one scene – but also in the way she conducts herself,’ explains Connie. 

‘I had intimate scenes with some young male actors playing Jo’s lovers, but we benefited from having an intimacy co-ordinator.’

Connie said TV is the place to be because actors can dive deep into characters. Pictured: Jo with her best friend Cathy

Connie said TV is the place to be because actors can dive deep into characters. Pictured: Jo with her best friend Cathy

There’s little intimacy between Jo and her husband though. ‘There’s a tension between them and perhaps a realisation on his part that the marriage is in trouble,’ says Christopher Eccleston. 

‘I’ve seen marriages where the kids have left home and there’s been an infusion of energy and romance, which I think Rob is pushing for. But he’s possibly more in love with her than she is with him.’

For Connie, the project reminded her of struggles she had with her mother Laila, who had mental health issues. ‘It was tough,’ she admits. 

‘I was always trying and failing to get her love. When I realised I was going to have to become the parent and let her be the child, I stopped feeling hurt,’ she says.

It’s the potential for exploring complex themes like these that has drawn Connie to TV after a 30-year career spent mainly in film. 

‘You can tell well-crafted stories over six to eight hours in a TV series. Before, even when I was the lead in films I was getting edited down. TV is now the place to be. We can dive deep into characters. And that’s what we do in Close To Me.’  

Close To Me, tomorrow, 9pm, Ch4. 

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