‘I find her fascinating'

Jenna Coleman on the challenges of playing a reallife accomplice to a serial killer…

- Sean Marland

THE SERPENT SUNDAY / BBC1 / 9PM / EP 3 of 8 / DRAMA

Jenna Coleman is a world away from Queen Victoria’s court in BBC1’s true-crime drama The Serpent.

Telling the story of serial killer Charles Sobhraj (played by Tahar Rahim), the eight-part series sees Victoria and Doctor Who star Jenna take on her most challenging role to date playing Sobhraj’s girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc, who helped the gem dealer carry out brutal murders across South East Asia during the 1970s.

In this week’s third episode, the horrific truth about Sobhraj’s crimes start to dawn on Canadian Leclerc and she wrestles with her conscience as her lover plots the demise of a young Frenchman who has stumbled into their web.

Yet the intensity of her obsession with Sobhraj soon makes her forget her old life, and she transforms into ‘Monique’, a suave and sinister alter ego he has created for her.

Here, Jenna, 34, tells us more…

What can you tell us about MarieAndrée Leclerc?