The second season of The Couple Next Door follows Charlotte (Annabel Scholey) and Jacob Roberts (Sam Palladio), a married couple and medical professionals living on the same street as the characters viewers met in season one. Charlotte works as a heart surgeon and Jacob is an anesthetist. They appear happy, but their seemingly stable relationship begins to unravel with the arrival of their new colleague, Mia (Aggy K. Adams), a nurse with a troubled past who moves in next store. Mia gradually becomes involved with both Charlotte and Jacob, disrupting their marriage. Charlotte’s ex-partner, Leo (Sendhil Ramamurthy), also returns and stirs past emotions, complicating matters further and causing Jacob to become increasingly desperate to save his marriage. In the season finale, which airs today on Starz, the truth behind Mia’s real identity is revealed, and Jacob’s hidden crimes come to light as he is pushed even closer to the edge.

Earlier in the season, Scholey and Adam’s spoke with SciFi Vision about their characters, what they learned from them, and more.

Listen to the interview and read the transcript below.



SCIFI VISION:   To start off, why don't you both talk about what was it that made you want to be a part of it?

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   Well, I watched series one. I actually auditioned for series one. So, I was sort very aware of what it was, and I really enjoyed watching it.

And then this one came in, and Charlotte, being a surgeon, I've always wanted to play a doctor. So, that was a big tick. But also, she's the same age as me. She's really, you know, passionate about her career, like me. I just thought it explored a very interesting moment in her life at forty as a having a rebirth of her identity and exploring her sexuality. And I think that that was what it was.

And physically, it was scary. I mean, obviously, the sex scenes were a big challenge. And you've seen episode six, where I get poisoned. Like, there were quite a few big scary scenes when I read it. I was like, “Oh, okay, this is going to be difficult. This is going to be a challenge, which obviously I always look for in a project.

SCIFI VISION:   Oh, yeah.

AGGY K. ADAMS:   Similarly, when I read me, I thought she's so incredibly wild and complex, and I just really wanted to. I first I read on two episodes, I think, and then when I got sent everything, I was like, “Yes,” because I had to say sort of yes, based on the first two episodes. But then, I was just so glad that I just thought her journey and her character were incredible. So, yeah, great challenge for me.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about the relationship between both of your characters, because obviously, that kind of goes back and forth a lot throughout the season.

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   Yeah, I think they're just they're kind of magnets to each other. I don't think either of them expect the other to have such a profound effect on the other one. And, you know, Mia is, it seems is playing a game, but even within that game, I think Charlotte knocks her off her center, and they can't ignore each other. I think whether they're just kindred spirits, they're both…very brave women. They're exploring themselves, and I think that was really lovely to play, actually, you know, to explore physically and emotionally these two women who were completely knocked off their center because of each other.

AGGY K. ADAMS:   I think they're really wild at heart as well, which is quite cool. Yeah, they have a lot of spirit, like fighting.

SCIFI VISION:   What did you guys do to prepare for it? I mean, you both had the medical stuff. What did you guys do to prepare in that sense?

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   Well, we went we went to see some open heart surgery. I mean, Aggy actually went twice. [laughs]

AGGY K. ADAMS:   Yeah, I loved it. I was a heart surgery junkie.

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   Yeah. It was pretty amazing. It's pretty special. We went - Sam Palladio and our producer - and it was really - I'm so glad we did, because, you know, in your head, you think it's going to be chaotic and really scary, and it absolutely wasn't at all. They're so in control. It's so calm. They're so grounded.

And actually, I got a lot from that. Obviously, Charlotte is a top heart surgeon. So, it made me realize I needed to really hold the space and be very grounded and extremely calm.

So, yeah, that prep was kind of essential. And we got to chat to a brilliant surgeon. He was on set for us. That was really good. I got him to try and explain the science as best he could to someone who is completely clueless, so that the lines could be connected to something, because it's just really difficult, isn't it, Aggie, to be doing something so physical and remembering scientific words if they don't have any meaning or sense behind them?

AGGY K. ADAMS:   Absolutely. And the movements and also like you actually had to do that…Suturing.

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   Yeah.

AGGY K. ADAMS:   And there's very specifically you have to have the needle in the right way and then perform the scene and do it in the believable way, just in case a heart surgeon is watching the show.

SCIFI VISION:   Well, who knows, maybe, maybe someday in the future you'll have to sew something up, I guess.

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   Well, maybe, maybe. Yeah. [laughs]

AGGY K. ADAMS:   Now you'll know how.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about connecting with the characters. Did either of you have trouble kind of getting into their head?

AGGY K. ADAMS:   Trouble. I mean, creating Mia was quite far away from me personally, because she's a nurse. She's very smart. Obviously she's gone to medical school. She's Norwegian. She's quite far away from me. She's suffered a lot in her life. So, just they give it justice to what she's been through and find the truth in what she's doing, which is the confidence she has to seduce Charlotte and Jacob and confidence she has in the workplace and how she introduces herself. That's all very far away from me personally. So, it was the best possible acting challenge I could [have], because usually you get cast as yourself in the beginning, I feel. So, it was such a great challenge for me to have so early on.

SCIFI VISION:   What about you, Annabel?

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   To me, I'm much more aligned with Charlotte. I definitely read the script and went, “OK, that's probably me.” I was head girl at school, and I can be a control freak. And yeah, I just think we're the same age. We're from West Yorkshire, the character and I'm from there. So, I understand how she's been brought up.

So, for me, it was actually just really lovely to be able to go back to my roots. And my mum was a nurse who worked in Leeds as well, so I grew up with that hospital that it is based on visiting it with my mum as a nurse. So, it was actually for me like putting on a nice pair of slippers in that way, but there were challenging things for me, like the surgery side of it.

And I've done a lot of, I guess, I've done a lot of sexy parts before. This had a different element to it, because, obviously, there were three of us, and that's a whole different thing. We had to take care of three people in those situations in the big threesome scene. So, that was quite scary. So, I was out of my comfort zone in some of the areas, but I think that's good. Makes you a better actor, hopefully.

AGGY K. ADAMS:   You were incredible in those scenes.

SCIFI VISION:   I was just going to say, Aggy, you said that like she's kind of more outgoing, I guess, more confident. Do you feel like you've changed and become more so since playing the part? Do you think it affected you in that way at all?

AGGY K. ADAMS:   I think so. I think I'm coming into myself more and more every year as I grow. And I think that role has taught me really, really a lot. I've experienced things during filming that I haven't before. So, that's definitely enriched me. I feel, yes. I think I feel more mature after filming for sure. It was, yeah, in a good way, of course.

SCIFI VISION:   Have you learned anything, Annabel? I know you said she was a lot like you, but is there anything that kind of changed for you after the role?

ANNABEL SCHOLEY:   I think, I mean, what it's about, about being a woman exploring herself at forty and not being complacent about things, about who you are. So, that attracted me to the role in the first place. And obviously when you're exploring that through the character, you do inevitably explore it yourself. You question things about yourself. I do feel in a fairly grounded place, thank goodness, in my life now. I have been more Mia before. So, I guess it's just kind of like cemented that for me. I definitely, I really loved the company. I loved all the guys, the actors. It was such a brilliant production company that we were with, and I enjoyed sort of, I guess, leading that. It was a nice feeling to have that kind of place, because Charlotte is a leader. So, it all kind of like slid into place for me, and I had a really, really lovely time, which was good, obviously.