Stephanie Beacham
Plays
Phyl Oswyn
Tell us a bit about your character.
Phyl and Bev are con-women. I think they probably sold golf courses in Portugal that didn’t exist, and definitely sold some rather large villas which were never going to be completed. The opportunities for scams in prison is reduced, so they just con their way into the best situations they possibly can. Phyl’s the planner and Bev’s the active, intuitive one.
How do you see her?
She’s from the army but she can come from whatever background she chooses to get the best from a situation. Where she gets her completely amoral character from, I’ve yet to find out, but she must have been deeply hurt and deserted at some point for her to have lost all sense of morality. She’s not immoral, she’s amoral. She has no scruples whatsoever. No guilt.
Do we see a nice side of her?
Well I don’t think she’s purposefully harmful, but anyone who’s that selfish is ultimately fun to play, but not fun to know.
Any traits like you?
This is the difficulty – physically, they are obviously. In your own brain you simply become Phyl and think as Phyl – which is utterly alien to this guilt-ridden creature that I am.
Are you enjoying playing her?
I always love playing oddballs. She’s not as powerful as some of the women that I’ve enjoyed playing, and I would be interested to see whether that changes. I think that I’ll enjoy it more when she comes into her strength.
Are Phyl and Bev a double act?
Yes, they complement each other. They’re a double act who work in tandem. Hopefully the chemistry between Amanda and I will come out on screen.
What’s it like coming into Bad Girls?
Oh, lovely. I didn’t know Bad Girls at all and I was sent a couple of episodes in Los Angeles and I then asked for a whole load more. That wasn’t because I wanted to see whether I wanted to be in the series or not, that was because I became absolutely addicted! I think it’s fabulous, there are such great performances.
How are you finding working in a prison environment?
I was quite alarmed when I first actually first heard the clonk of the gate locking behind us. In the first couple of days I realised I was really sensitive to it. It frightened me.
However, I’ve done Tenko, and that was prison on a deeper level than this – that was true deprivation. I love all-women casts. I always feel women, once they get to know each other, have all the information in the universe at their fingertips, between the lot of them. Women are wonderful en masse.
What’s the best thing about working on Bad Girls?
It’s lovely to see how different characters react. Amanda and I have come into a series that people have been working on for a good few years, they know their characters so well. It’s lovely to receive that automatic reaction that comes from the knowledge of their characters.
What does your character miss most?
She’s used to having a lot of money, but you don’t bring a lot of money into prison with you, you bring practical stuff. You’ve got to show where they came from. We arrived with a lot of suitcases but we’re not allowed to have all those things once we’re inside.
What are their priorities?
I think alcohol is vital for them. An absolute priority. I’m sure that they need to keep slightly off the ground, not just because they’re alcoholics, but because they do not look behind them for one second. They don’t analyse the terrible mess that they get people into. They just lift their glasses, say cheers, and get on to the next one. Their alcohol supply is very well organised.
Have you ever have scrapes with the law?
Soooo not! I’m such a wimp. I am such a good girl. I’ve always enjoyed playing the bitches, the strong women, the con women… I hide behind these women. I enjoy playing them and getting into the mechanics of it without having any of the responsibility, or the hideousness of their karma!
Have you ever come face to face with a real Costa Con?
Yes. Such extraordinary charm. That’s key to it. For Phyl and Bev, the charm that they were able to use out in the big wide world would have worked so much better than it does here. They’re not going to impress a whole load of prisoners easily. These are convicted people. But we’re sorting it out. Gently, gently, not too much at first. You could get beaten up badly – there are some tough women in this prison. We’re tough in that we have no morality, but physically we’ve left very soft lives. We’re not people that would easily be able to defend ourselves, not really, so we have to keep mentally agile to keep ahead of that.