Tamsin Greig has said she “probably shouldn’t have been” in Friday Night Dinner playing a Jewish mother.
The actor, who played Jackie Goodman in the beloved Channel 4 sitcom, recently reflected on her role as a practising Christian with Jewish ancestry.
“I think, given our sensitivity today about these issues, I probably shouldn’t have been in that show,” Greig told The Telegraph in a new interview.
“We are much more conscious today than we were when that show was first aired.”
She added: “For instance, Cleopatra has long been on my list of roles to play but I have to step back from that now, because Cleopatra needs to be played by someone who looks like they may have come from that area of the world.
“That’s absolutely right. But I’ll keep Lady Macbeth on the list.”
Earlier this year, Tamsin Greig revealed she had told her late co-star Paul Ritter not to film the Friday Night Dinner anniversary special due to his ill health.
Ritter, who played Martin Goodman opposite Greig as his wife Jackie in the Channel 4 sitcom, died earlier this year after suffering from a brain tumour.
“I’m sure you know that very recently we lost our dear and most cherished friend Paul Ritter, who plays Martin Goodman in Friday Night Dinner,” Greig said in a statement obtained by Metro.
She continued: “We all miss him terribly, an incredible actor, a true friend and a lovely human being. Sadly at the time of making the documentary, Paul was pretty unwell and to be honest – and don’t tell the producers this – but I did try and persuade him not to do the interview.
“But it is testament to Paul’s courage and generosity and dignity and complete lack of vanity that he wanted to participate in the documentary, to do an interview, and to really celebrate this little world that he’s been a part of and that he’s enjoyed so much over the years.”
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