Flip from the Darcylicious forum found a press pack that can be downloaded from Hartwood Films, containing an interview with Keeley.

Keeley Hawes plays Nicola Graham

For Nicola, the care and development of Kyle has overtaken her entire life, particularly as she refuses time and time again to give up hope on a breakthrough with her son. ‘Nicola is under a great deal of stress coping with Kyle. Although she works a couple of nights a week as a nurse, she really doesn’t have a life apart from caring for him. Although Rob wants him to go away to a boarding school for autistic children, Nicola is adamant that she can help Kyle more herself.’ It was a raw, honest and unsentimental account of Nicola’s fight which attracted Keeley to the film. ‘I liked the script because it wasn’t sentimental in the way it might have been. It’s not sugary and, with a TV drama, it could have easily gone down that route. And I read it in one sitting, which is always a good sign. It’s not good when it takes you three weeks to get through something! And you care about the characters, which is so important. With any drama, you have to care about the characters enough to want to stick with the story and see everything from their point of view.’ And the fact that those characters are not only a figment of a writer’s imagination brings an even greater weight to the story. ‘The fact that Nicola is based on a real woman comes with quite a lot of responsibility. If you play somebody famous, you sort of feel like you know them anyway, which is an entirely different kind of responsibility. I know the writer Lindsey (Hill) worked very closely with the ‘real family’ so a lot of the dialogue has actually been spoken by somebody. That weighs quite heavily. It gets easier and you think about it less and less as filming progresses, but you always feel that you want to do the people you are portraying justice. Thankfully, the couple we are based on are happy with Ben and I, so that’s a relief!’

"Having a child without a disability is so difficult sometimes, it’s almost unimaginable to identify with people who cope with children with disabilities.”

As a mother of a five-year-old herself, Keeley found Nicola’s story hugely inspiring – and hopes parents in similar situations will too. ‘This story really is awe-inspiring. Having a child without a disability is so difficult sometimes, it’s almost unimaginable to identify with people who cope with children with disabilities. That is why this is inspiring for other people. It’s not a miracle, it’s not a cure. The story is miraculous but it’s not saying that everyone with autistic children should go and buy a Golden Retriever. But it is inspiring that not every story has a bad ending. It’s very hopeful. As naff as it sounds, this job has made everybody realise how lucky they are. Which is never a bad thing, is it?’ Keeley and the rest of the production team were keen to ensure that autism was correctly portrayed, an objective which required much research and a real insight into the condition. ‘We did a lot of research into autism. I‘ve got several books at home and we went to a school for autistic children, where we met children who were the same age as my own son. I thought I was much better prepared for that but I wasn’t. They were gorgeous, those little boys. And all the older children were so beautifully behaved because they are so well looked after and sort of ‘trained’ in social behaviour – the ones I met were much better behaved than most other kids their age! They were just wonderful, wonderful kids. They were so pleased to see us and there was even a little boy who was given a line in the film. The whole school was standing in the playground watching us shooting and when the boy had delivered his line and walked off, they all cheered and clapped. It was just so moving. The job’s been worth it just to have the experience with those people, to work with them and to meet the children. One thing I didn’t know before this was that there are so many levels of autism. It’s often hard to get diagnosed because some of the symptoms are the same as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It’s a really complicated, grey area. Fifteen years ago when Nicola was trying to get Kyle diagnosed, people didn’t know as much. It’s only really since the early nineties that people understand the condition enough to diagnose it, which is quite frightening. What on earth was going on beforehand with the amount of children who had this problem? What help were they being given? Did people simply think that they were ‘badly behaved’ children? I was watching a video of autistic children with my son and he said ‘these children are naughty.’ Because that’s what they looked like. You can’t explain autism to a five-year-old though really. I know you should try to explain but personally I don’t think they can take that in. I’m just getting my head around it.’

And getting their head around autism is something Keeley would like to see more people trying to do. ‘I think taking anything to an audience so it can be better understood, especially when it’s something as visible as autism, is a good thing.

Thankfully, we are continually being educated about disabilities and people are more aware of their behaviour and how they should relate to disabled people. It can only be a good thing for people to get a greater understanding of autism. And I’m sure it will also be quite good for people bringing up autistic children to see that other people have been through it and come out the other side.’ If the subject matter wasn’t challenging enough, then filming certainly was… ‘Any scenes with children or dogs are very difficult to film! There isn’t a scene which wasn’t difficult if I’m totally honest. My role with Kyle is very physical a lot of the time. Andrew (Byrne) is six so he’s not a little toddler. There are scenes where I am struggling with him, like the opening scenes when I am holding him down in the road. For him it’s exhausting and for me it’s exhausting. I’ve got no idea how people cope with that all day, every day. They must be so physically strong as well as mentally. You just feel battered by the end of the day, like you’ve been on an assault course. Both Ben (Miles) and I have children of our own, which I think was really important, especially as we are spending so much time with Andrew.’

Yet it is these challenges which make Keeley one of Britain’s most versatile actresses, tackling everyone from an MI5 agent (in two series of Spooks) to Victorian heroines (Under The Greenwood Tree, Tipping the Velvet) to modern day versions of Shakespearean characters Lady Macbeth and Desdemona. ‘I’ve been really lucky with my career so far. I haven’t been pigeon-holed, which sometimes happens to actors. The exciting thing is having something that you’d have never thought of

“There isn’t a scene which wasn’t difficult if I’m totally honest”

drop on your mat and thinking ‘Oh God, I’d love to do this’. But I can’t complain…I’m even lucky enough to have done my pocket version of Lady Macbeth!’