When 20-year-old Aisling Franciosi got cast as the babysitter in BBC’s The Fall, she had no idea that the man she’d act opposite, Jamie Dornan, would eventually sign on to play Christian Grey in Fifty Shades. Nobody did. Now she’s not only his co-star in the series — about a serial killer (Dornan) being hunted by a detective (Gillian Anderson) — she’s been tied to a bed by him. And yet, somehow, her character is fascinating for so much more than her proximity to Dornan: She’s playing a 16-year-old obsessed with a murderer, willing to lie to the police for him, hoping to lose her virginity to him.
By the end of the second season, I was so angry with your character, Katie. Did she frustrate you too?
It was more of a question of why — Why are you doing this? You want to shake her. I saw some people say on Twitter that they wanted to give her a good slap, which made me laugh. You want to say, “He’s harming so many women; he’s manipulating you. Why are you allowing him to do this?” Even though she is damaged and vulnerable, she’s also in her own twisted way very strong-willed. Because she doesn’t give in, she doesn’t buckle under pressure. She’s completely devoted to Paul [Dornan’s character].
Katie is such an interesting and important person in The Fall. She is the only one willing to stick up for Paul no matter what he has done to her or others. It takes a lot of guts and a lot of passion to stay devoted to someone like Paul. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Katie and Paul. Will her devotion continue? Will she pick up where Paul left off?
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