Ridley Road | Interview with Tracy-Ann Oberman (Nancy Malinovsky)

What can you tell us about Nancy Malinovsky when we meet her at the start of the series?

Nancy is a brilliant female character. She’s married to Soly, who is the leader of the 62 Group. She’s brave, fearless, clever, passionate about fighting Nazis, proud of her community and her Jewish identity and she goes out of her way to be a really important member, almost like the brains behind the 62 group, fighting Colin Jordan and the NSM. She also takes on the role of mentoring Vivien.

What was it like working with Eddie Marsan?

Eddie Marsan plays my husband, Soly. I’ve worked with Eddie before. We did a film together where I played his wife, so it’s been really lovely working with him again. He’s such a brilliant actor to work with, he’s very inspiring and he’s very generous, particularly in our relationship in this, about making sure that Nancy was as much a part of the 62 Group and the fighting against fascists, as the men were.

Was there anything in particular that drew you to this role?

I feel that this bit of history has been forgotten. I think that the legacy of Oswald Mosley in the 30s and 40s, then the fact that the fascists rose so soon after the Holocaust in World War II and the murder of six million Jews. The very fact that Britain had this rise of fascism in the 60s, led by Colin Jordan and the legacy of Mosley is really important to remember.

I think that it’s also important to remember that the Jewish community were under so much threat, so soon after the Holocaust. Fascist marches were taking place in Trafalgar Square, but the police and the authorities did very little to protect the Jewish community. This is why the Jewish community had to protect themselves. Sarah Solemani has written this script, based on Jo Bloom’s book, to retell this bit of Jewish history and community history.

Do you feel this is a timely and important story to tell?

I think Ridley Road is an important story to tell at this moment in time because there’s so much race hate and extremism that’s happening. This story is a reminder of what happens when you allow racism, particularly anti-Semitism to flourish. It’s a shocking reminder that this country, even in the 60s, so soon after World War II, had this growing rise of anti-Semitism, where fascists like Colin Jordan were able to mobilise people to talk about the Jewish entity and to get rid of them and to gas them again, when six million had just been gassed in the concentration camps of Europe. That bleeds into other forms of racism as well, so we have to stop othering minorities and protect them. If the authorities aren’t going to protect them, then the community should take it into their own hands and that’s what this story reminds us.

There’s an organisation called The CST (Community Security Trust), which is the Jewish community’s self-policing. It doesn’t matter where you are in Britain, if you’ve had an anti-Semitic attack, you can call The CST and they will come and protect you. The CST came out of the 62 Group. The 62 Group was founded because the police and the authorities didn’t look after the Jewish community, so they ended up forming something that would protect themselves. In this show, we see that people like Soly, Ronnie, the Rabbi and the group of men, are prepared to go out there and the women like Nancy are prepared to go out there and do what it takes. Nowadays it is done through legal and policing, but you can see where its origins started.

Why do you think Nancy and Soly’s relationship works?

I think their relationship works because they’re passionate about their identity. I think that any Jewish person that was alive in the 60s had family that were lost in the Holocaust. They knew people that had gone in and freed those camps. They would have lost all their Eastern European family in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. I think Soly and Nancy are passionate about protecting their community. Even though they may not be religious Jews, they will do what it takes to make sure it never happens again. To them, Colin Jordan is as bad as Hitler. They will stand and make sure they are not victims of a state that doesn’t protect them or their rights. They help each other because Soly is hot headed and Nancy has a cooler, more intelligent approach. They work brilliantly together and are the perfect couple in taking on and leading the 62 Group.

How much did you know about the 62 Group before accepting the role?

I knew a lot about the 62 Group. I had family members who talked about being a part of the group and I know a man who is a leading member of the community who was a big part of the group. The 62 Group represents how communities can take things into their own hands. Although I knew quite a bit about it, I had not realised how much anti-Semitism and neo-Nazi hatred was on the rise again in Britain in 1962. It’s frightening to me that there were marches going on in Trafalgar Square against the Jewish entity, I thought that had finished in the 1930s and after the Holocaust it wouldn’t have happened again.

I also think Ridley Road is important because this has been a woefully unexplored part of British history. It’s important to remember Colin Jordan, Francoise Dior, George Rockwell and their involvement in an anti-Jewish, fascist movement.

Tell us about Nancy and Vivien’s relationship throughout the series…

Nancy is like a handler. She sees Vivien and she sees the potential of a young girl who feels as passionately about fighting fascism as she did. Nancy helps Vivien and nurtures her and mentors her to be able to go in undercover and take on Colin. She’s like a mother figure, but a mother figure that slaps you about a little bit and gets you to go hang out with Nazis.

What did you like about Sarah’s writing when you first read the script?

I knew the book well and I love Sarah’s writing. I think that Sarah has adapted this book brilliantly. I think Sarah captures these different strands of the story and weaves them together so well. I think it’s gripping, intelligent, exciting, sexy and it’s true.

How have you found filming during the pandemic? What challenges have there been?

This has been my first job back after the pandemic and it’s been really interesting. I think we’re very lucky and blessed to be able to do it. I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it’s been. There are things like, you have to act in your bubble, everyone is in PPE and there are masks. You can’t really touch props and you have to keep your distance. But there’s a lot of respect and it actually focusses you because you just want to get the scene done as safely as possible. So, whilst it’s been a challenge, it’s also been quite focusing because you’ve got to be very mindful of what you touch, who you stand near, how you breathe and not to take your mask off.

What do you think of the costumes for Nancy, do you like the fashion of the era?

I’m loving the whole Nancy look. This was a woman who was working class and she likes her clothes. I love her costumes, the wig and the whole vibe of the 60s. I think props, costume, makeup and hair have done an amazing job of recreating that.

Have the locations bought you into the era?

The locations have been incredible. Pearl Mutters, which is where Nancy and Soly run the 62 Group from, was the most beautiful and authentic location. Oscar’s, the hair salon has also been exquisite. I can’t wait to see the other locations on camera.

What do you hope audiences take away from the show?

I hope audiences love Ridley Road as much as we’ve loved filming it and I think that they will be shocked. It will be exciting, it’s a love story, it’s sexy but it’s also frightening. It’s a bit of history that people have forgotten, and I hope that it makes them look at anti-Semitism and racism and take it more seriously. I also hope they remember how near we are, and we were, to having the rise of an anti-fascist movement in Britain.

Have you got any highlights from the show?

Every part of filming this was a highlight for me. Re-enacting the meetings of the 62 Group, just because it felt so close to me because I knew so many people that were really there and on the frontline, doing that work. I think just being in the 60s, like being in Oscar’s hair salon and everything being so authentic was beautiful. Driving a vintage taxi and having to drive Vivien into the woods and slap her about was great. Everything has been a highlight and it’s a story that I really wanted to be a part of.

Why should people watch Ridley Road?

People should watch Ridley Road because I think it’s the best of British television. It’s classy, exciting, it looks amazing, the actors are great, the story is gripping, its historical, epic, sexy and it’s inspired by a true story.