Liz Carr reveals how she grew to ‘almost resent’ Silent Witness filming schedule
The actress left the BBC crime drama in the finale of the 23rd series, after eight years as forensic examiner Clarissa Mullery.
Liz Carr has revealed she left her long-standing role in Silent Witness as the intense filming schedule meant she could not pursue other projects – a situation which she admits she grew to “almost resent”.
The actress played deadpan forensic examiner Clarissa Mullery in the BBC crime drama from 2013 until she exited the show in 2020.
Carr, 49, has now joined the star-studded cast of The Witcher for series two, a dark fantasy series starring Superman lead Henry Cavill as monster hunter Geralt of Rivia.
Speaking to the Radio Times, she said: “The job was a joy. Clarissa was very loved, and I don’t take the experience or the support that I got in that role for granted at all.
“But I wanted to see who else I could play. Silent Witness took nine months a year, so it did cut out an awful lot of projects that I would have loved to do.
“I was starting to almost resent that, because I wanted to do other things.”
Carr will arrive in the sixth episode of The Witcher to play the character Fenn, who she said makes “quite an impact in a short space”.
She also teased that in the upcoming series she will spar with fellow new addition, stage and screen star Simon Callow, who will play the part of detective Codringher.
The actress explained that having the opportunity to take on a project like The Witcher was behind her decision to leave Silent Witness.
She added: “Personally for me, as an electric-wheelchair-using disabled woman, it’s really interesting to be cast in things that are historical, or part of a different world.
“I really relished the costumes, the set and the opportunity to go: ‘Do you know what? There’s no reason, really, that I can’t play roles in almost anything.’”
In The Witcher fantasy novels, written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, Fenn’s character is a silent male partner in an information-gathering business, hiding quietly in the backroom due to a disability.
The production team behind the TV series decided to subvert this character by flipping their gender and personality traits.
Carr said: “We wanted to go: ‘What if Fenn wants to be out in the world, and be the front person?’
“This version of Fenn is full of life and colour and inquisitiveness.”
The actress, who had to shield during the pandemic due to her underlying health conditions, also stars in the new sci-fi action film Infinite alongside Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Read the full interview in the Radio Times.
