Season 2 of the British drama “Broadchurch” premiered Wednesday on BBC America with a familiar face: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who was an Oscar nominee (as Best Supporting Actress) for “Secrets & Lies” and played Vivian Johnson on CBS’ “Without a Trace.”
On “Broadchurch,” Jean-Baptiste plays Sharon Bishop, the attorney defending Joe Miller — who, in last season’s finale, confessed to killing 10-year-old Danny Latimer in the sleepy English seaside town of Broadchurch.
Oh yeah — Joe’s wife is cop Ellie Miller, who worked the Latimer murder case with her gruff partner, Alec Hardy. (They’re played by Olivia Colman and David Tennant, both back for Season 2.)
“I think she’s very driven and motivated — she’s extremely ambitious and will go to great lengths to attain success in what she wants to achieve,” says Jean-Baptiste of Sharon, who squares off against prosecutor Jocelyn Knight (played by Charlotte Rampling). “When we first meet her she’s in a bit of a slump and is not admitting it. This is really about her proving how good she is and reasserting herself in the legal world. She’s a powerhouse.”
Jean-Baptiste has an extensive resume on British series TV, where most seasons are six-to-eight episodes — unlike the standard 13-to-22-episode American TV season (if a given show even gets that far).
“What’s interesting is that it took about six months to shoot those eight [‘Broadchurch’] episodes,” she says. “It’s like shooting a mini-film, where the characters are fleshed out and given time to breathe. I do feel, on some level, that the American formula can feel a bit cranked-up, like, ‘Oh, there’s another plot point. Go! What are these people feeling?’”
Last, but not least …
Congrats to Jessica Bellucci, who’s been promoted to VP/communications for Tribune Broadcasting … March 9: Bebe Neuwirth, John Rubinstein and a chorus/orchestra perform “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin” (at Avery Fisher Hall) to benefit the UJA-Federation’s Community Initiative for Holocaust Survivors … “Rachael Ray” notched its best February sweeps ratings in six years (10 a.m. on Ch. 7).