Jack Ellis - the Final Interview
On Tuesday 12th July – Jim Fenner played by Jack Ellis, will be murdered in ITV1’s Bad Girls. After seven series of filming this popular character will meet a sticky end.
Jim Fenner has got to be one of TV’s most popular baddies. Tell us what he has got up to in the last few years…
Jim’s done it all! Murder - Rape – Pillage! He’s had blow jobs from governing governors and favours from inmates. Jim has bent every rule in the book and up to now got away with it. But it’s now comeuppance time.
What has been the best scene you have ever recorded in Bad Girls?
I loved recording the scenes when Shell Dockley stabbed me. I would say that it stands out as a memorable scene. Particularly as I got left on a trolley when the whole crew went off for lunch.. they all forgot about me!
What was the hardest or most traumatic scene to film?
The death scenes were hard.. but mainly because they took two weeks to record. Also the stabbing scene with Shell was a tough scene to record.
In terms of difficulty, I found all the stuff with Neil Grayling, the stripper and the blow job highly embarrassing to record. I think people would have thought – ‘perfect, he must be a pig in heaven recording all this stuff’ but the thing is I’m not Jim, I’ve got a wife and two kids – so I did find those scenes rather embarrassing.
Did you expect Bad Girls to run for as long as it has?
No I really didn’t think the show would run for so long. I really did expect it to come off air half way through the first series. The ratings had dipped a bit so I immediately suspected the worst. But a couple of episodes later it pulled through and it’s gone from strength to strength.
I really thought when I first started the show that I was going to be sacked any minute. I didn’t get any sleep for the first two weeks, I kept waking up in cold sweats. I was just so nervous and was living in fear of getting sacked. . but it all turned out lovely - and I came up smelling of thorns.
What has been the most embarrassing scene you have had to record?
The most embarrassing scene I think has to be when I had to get my bottom out. Front and back! It was infront of Stephanie Beacham and 65 other guards, inmates, actors, crew and extras!
If you could have written Jim’s exit. How would you have ended it?
If I had written Jim’s last scene I would have crucified him on a massive cross in front of the big main prison window. I would have got them to cut the bottom of the crucifix and had all the women push him out of the window onto a very busy M1 motorway with fleets of articulated lorries thundering down. Each one would have crushed him further into the tarmac.
I mentioned it to Brian Park the Executive Producer but he thought it a bit over the top. But I said “How can you say that after all the things you’ve made me do”.
Was it emotional recording final scenes?
It wasn’t emotional filming my last scenes, it was just hard work as it went on for far too long.. those last scenes took almost ten days to record. And I’ve still got the bruises to prove it.
But the send off everyone gave me was more than I could have possibly have dreamed of. Everyone was so unbelievably kind and generous. It made me wish to create and open up the first ever clink in heaven – assuming of course it will be heaven!
Did you prefer working on location or on the prison set?
I preferred working on location after the first year of being there. This was due to the claustrophobic atmosphere on the actual interior prison set. We film all winter so we arrive at work in dark we leave work in the dark and we spend all day filming in near darkness. So filming on the outside set was a breath of fresh air as we got to see daylight.
Did you enjoy playing a more vulnerable side of Jim, like you did when he was in prison?
Yes – but Jim is at his best when he’s being bad. But recording his vulnerable scenes did allow me to flex those much underused old acting muscles.
Was there something else you could have seen Jim do whilst working at Larkhall or do you think he covered most things?
I would have quite liked Jim to have had a sudden realisation.. something that even he was surprised by. .
Do you feel your portrayal of Jim Fenner has changed over the years or did you still play him the same way you did when you started?
Jim has changed I think if you watch the dvd’s of the earlier series you would see differences. But Jim has changed with the storylines, as I have always played what was on the page – you have to be truthful to what you’ve been given. But because of the sheer extent of all the different types of storylines it meant he inevitably changed throughout the series.. And Jim did get some suprises along the way. I don’t think Jim was ever one dimensional (well I hope not) but I think he certainly had added more dimensions by the end.
How do you feel about being known as Jim Fenner. Is it a title you think will easy to drop?
In a way it will be sad if I lose the title as Jim too easily as it would mean he wasn’t memorable. But I am an actor it was my job.
I think it will now be a challenge to get out there and show people the other sides to me. I never wanted to be just one role!
Is drama a genre that you would like to continue to act in (perhaps you have a comedic side that you would love to explore…)?
I would love to do a bit of comedy - I want to do everything and show the other sides. But talking of comedy I do actually think Jim Fenner was quite funny!