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It was one scene that convinced Jo Joyner her new Paramount Plus thriller Little Disasters had struck gold.
‘In a flashback, we meet the main female characters at their first NCT class, all explaining their birth plans,’ the 47-year-old actor tells Metro over Zoom.
‘I just remember thinking this is lovely because in just one scene, they cleverly encapsulated all these different personalities.’
It is also a neat introduction to the four women in Little Disasters, who are all bonded by the travails of motherhood before it tears them apart.
At that NCT class, Joyner’s overworked but jovial NHS doctor Liz falls for the charms of Diane Kruger’s ethereal Jess.
They swiftly become best friends, alongside fellow mums-to-be Shelley Conn’s spiky lawyer Charlotte and Emily Taafe’s down-to-earth Mel.
But the group’s friendship is pulled in agonising directions when Liz decides to call social services after Jess takes her daughter to Liz’s hospital with a severe head injury she can’t explain.
As Little Disasters follows well-heeled female friends, living in Pinterest-perfect homes, grappling with a cataclysmic event, it has already been called the next Big Little Lies.
Joyner finds the comparison to the Nicole Kidman thriller ‘very flattering’, but says there is one huge point of difference between the shows.
She explains: ‘In Big Little Lies, they’re all bonded by the same drama because there’s a big lie they’re all keeping together in their coven, whereas in our thriller, we’re all divided by [the drama] and it potentially ruins relationships for good.
‘But [Little Disasters compares to Big Little Lies] definitely in a feel of some very glamorous and wealthy women, as well as the less wealthy and glamorous, like Liz.’
Also unlike other TV shows, Little Disasters treads new ground by examining the impact of a friendship break-up. While often as devastating as a romantic split, it’s yet to be explored as predominantly on screen.
Joyner has never parted ways with a friend, but admits her friendships have wavered over the years. ‘As I’ve gotten older, [there have been] times where life has gotten so busy for myself and some of my closest dearest friends that there’s been a neglect there.
‘Certainly, on my part, I have neglected a close friend who’s been going through a lot, or vice versa, and you have to come out of the other side.
‘In very long, close friendships, the best thing you can do is acknowledge it and go, “You know what? I’m really sorry. I don’t think I was there for you. I’m here now. How can I make up for it, and what can we do?’
Joyner found new friends in her Little Disasters co-stars. They bonded during ‘very mature and civilised’ evenings of wine, meals, crosswords and a strict bedtime of 11 pm. ‘It was very rock ‘n’ roll,’ she says while laughing.
‘Although I can’t say that it did much for my ego, spending every morning in makeup sat next to a Chanel model [Kruger] while they painted broken veins and the tired face of the NHS across me,’ the former EastEnders actor quips.
‘But Diane is just wonderful. She’s a real, real force. She has a great no-nonsense attitude about most things, and she really gets on with the job in hand.’
For soap fans, Joyner is best known for playing Tanya Branning in EastEnders, but has enjoyed a varied career both before and after her breakout role. She’s starred in shows including Harlan Coben’s Stay Close, Channel 5 thriller The Wives, Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge and BBC’s Doctor Who.
Without hesitation, Joyner says she would return to Russell T Davies’ classic sci-fi. ‘The wonderful thing about Doctor Who is that you could go back a million times with a million different faces and no one would know, well, the Whovians would know. But you could play all sorts,’ she explains.
‘It’s endless, boundless imagination for something like Doctor Who. I’m very proud to have been part of the franchise, and I would definitely do it again.’
But Joyner’s career highlight is sketch show Swinging, for which she turned down a ‘much more prestigious show on a different channel.’ She wouldn’t disclose the show in question but hinted it was a period drama. ‘They were making lots of things like Chaucer and Shakespeare into big dramas for telly at the time, so it was in that kind of realm,’ Joyner discloses.
Joyner felt the part in the unnamed show was too ‘similar’ to one of her previous projects, so she took a leap of faith. It paid off. For Swinging, she won the Rose d’Or for best female comedy performer.
While Joyner’s confident in her acting decisions, she’s less so about her secret talent: she’s a grade eight piano player.
‘It’s a very private hobby, and I get so nervous if I think anybody’s listening. It’s even a surprise to people who have known me for a while that I can play. I only do it alone,’ she explains.
‘I’ve never required it for a character, and if I did, I’d be really, really nervous about it, but I can’t explain why. It’s a private hobby. I love doing it, but I do it when the house is empty, or at the very least, my family are upstairs.
‘The minute I think someone’s listening, I can’t do it.’
After Jo’s standout performance in Little Disaster, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her. Who knows, maybe she’ll even be convinced to play the piano in her next role.
Little Disasters is coming to Paramount Plus on Thursday, May 22.
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