Nell Hudson: Filming Victoria was like an eight-month long school trip

The actress said the cast of ITV’s hit period drama hung out ‘every night’
Crowning glory: Nell Hudson said filming the new series of Victoria was like being back at school
Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Emma Powell22 August 2017

Nell Hudson says working on the set of ITV drama Victoria was like being on a school trip.

The cast, led by Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes, who are dating in real life, as Victoria and Albert, spent months filming in the North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate.

Hudson, 26, told the Standard: “We’re all in Harrogate all the time, which is not a massive place, and we’re all in the same hotel so it’s got a school trip vibe.

“We’re together every single night for supper or a movie, or just one drink if we’ve got a big day the next day. It’s really nice because people who guest star really comment on that, which is a nice affirmation.”

In costume: Nell Hudson as Nancy Skerett in ITV's Victoria
ITV

The actress, who plays the queen’s dresser Nancy Skerrett, said filming passed in a blur. “It was weirdly like time folded,” she said. “I was like, ‘Hang on, I was only here a few days ago’ even though eight months had passed. It was all just incredibly familiar.”

The show’s second series picks up a month after the events of the first, which ended with the birth of Victoria’s daughter in 1840. But it will also follow the blossoming “downstairs” romance between Hudson’s character and chef Charles Francatelli, played by Ferdinand Kingsley, the son of actor Sir Ben.

The pair are good friends off camera, which Hudson said dispelled the potential awkwardness of love scenes. “It turned out we lived two streets away from one another,” she said.

“He’s one of those friends who you can text and be like ‘pub in 10 minutes?’ and he’s around. We get on really well which helps so much for the more intimate scenes.”

Hudson grew up on a farm in Worcestershire but now lives in Hackney with Will Taylor, singer with up-and-coming band Flyte.

She said she had no plans to swap London for Hollywood, adding: “With LA you become such a tiny fish in such a massive pond so until it pulls me I’m not planning to go out there — and I’m madly in love with London.

“I’ve been here five years but it still holds all of the romance and excitement that growing up on a farm didn’t have.”

ITV's Victoria - in pictures

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The actress said the gender pay gap in the film and TV industry was unacceptable but “doesn’t want to come across too pushy” when it comes to asking for more money.

The imbalance has been criticised by the likes of Noomi Rapace, Emma Stone and Game Of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke. Last month, some of the BBC’s most high-profile female stars called on the corporation to “act now” to deal with the problem.

Asked about the issue, Hudson said the imbalance is “totally real” and “really unacceptable”. But she added: “I don’t know how much it’s the industry and how much as women we’re slightly conditioned to be more modest and accommodating.

“There have been times where I felt within myself a sort of reserve that I don’t want to come across too pushy or diva-ish and all those kinds of things. That’s probably my own neuroses, which is something for me to look at.”

Victoria returns to ITV 9.05pm on Sunday, August 27.

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