Tamsin Greig Says She 'Probably Shouldn't' Have Played Jackie In Friday Night Dinner

To many of us, Tamsin Greig is best known as Friday Night Dinner’s Jackie Goodman, however, the actor has now said she ‘probably shouldn’t’ have played the role of the Jewish mother. 

Greig played Jackie throughout the Channel 4 show’s six seasons, but has recently questioned her suitability for the part, saying we’re all a lot more conscious about these issues than we were when it first aired. 

The 55-year-old, who is a practicing Christian with Jewish ancestry, told the Telegraph: “I think, given our sensitivity today about these issues, I probably shouldn’t have been in that show. 

Channel 4

“We are much more conscious today than we were when that show was first aired.”

She went on: “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.”

The sitcom, which centres on a Jewish family, first aired in 2011 and ended after six seasons following the death of actor Paul Ritter, who played Greig’s on-screen husband Martin. 

Writer Robert Popper said earlier this year that he believed the show’s final episode managed to round things off nicely so it didn’t need to return. 

Channel 4

When asked if it was always planned to end after six season, Popper told LADbible: "It wasn't, actually. I never really know until I start.

"I have all my ideas and I have my board up on a wall, but I never really know, until I start an episode, what it's going to be about.

"But I did think half-way through it would be great if they both brought girls round, and then I thought that one of them was pregnant and then 'oh, what happens if they're both pregnant?' So I thought that was good.

"And then, yeah, I was thinking this will be the end, because I didn't want to do a series where they had kids and babies, and Jim would have seven dogs, also, like, the world's weirdest dog that you couldn't find seven of.

"So that was going to be the end, yeah."

Topics: TV and Film

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]