With Wimbledon barely off our screens, the world of tennis still feels synonymous with glamour. But Prime Video’s new drama Fifteen-Love is all about telling another story, tackling the darker underbelly of elite sport and the abuse of power that far too often lingers at its core.
Created by The Essex Serpent writer Hania Elkington, the six-part series follows a former tennis prodigy called Justine (Ella Lily Hyland) who accuses her former coach of sexual assault. As the allegation comes to light, those around them are forced to reassess what they thought they knew about that period of their lives.
Told through a series of flashbacks and changing perspectives, the narrative of the show begs its audiences to question who is telling the truth, and challenge their preconceptions. This approach was a key part of drawing its talented cast to the project, as Aidan Turner tells 12DOVE.
"That's something I love as an audience to watch, I love figuring out who's telling the truth," the actor, who plays tennis coach Glenn at the center of the accusations, says about the slowly unfolding narrative. "It was definitely something I loved about the scripts. I don't know who to believe, I don't know where the burden of proof is."
Challenging perspectives
The way the show tackles this confronting dilemma is by balancing Justine’s story, as she struggles with the reemergence of her abuser in her life, with that of the confident and charming Glenn, who is seemingly at the top of the tennis world.
"I think Justine is sometimes quite chaotic, a little bit all over the place at this time in her life," Turner says of this contrast. "It’s nothing that would ever suggest that she's a liar, but it's funny what that does in your brain. You start thinking, 'Well, okay, but this other guy looks well-groomed. He's quite measured about his approach. The way he speaks is a certain way, the people around him trust him.'"
Indeed, as actor Hyland puts it, "She’s kind of an unreliable narrator because she doesn’t even believe herself at times." This makes it all the more easier for someone like Glenn to carry public opinion, which was one of the most intriguing aspects of the story for Turner.
"It's scary because there's no red flags with somebody like Glenn," he continues. "That was part of playing him too, I never wanted people to think, 'Yes, it’s him, it's that guy.'
"I didn't want one of those moments to happen where you go, 'Right, steer clear of this man'. That would just be un-useful in a show, I don’t know what you learn from that. Predators do hide in plain sight, certainly, the ones who are successful at what they're doing."
For the actor, who’s become known best for playing romantic leads in shows like Poldark and fantasy roles in projects like Being Human and The Hobbit films, this was a big draw of the part too.
"When you play something, you kind of want to mix it up again," he says. "Obviously you want to recharge creatively and if you keep hitting the dopamine button, it's gonna wear out and then it sort of disappears."
"There was probably a deep yearning that was unconscious, maybe, to play somebody who had a lot of attributes that Glenn had or a certain disposition that he had," Turner adds. "I guess there's always been something that I found dangerous and pretty scary about somebody like him."
Wider players
Some of the most interesting dynamics of the drama come from those around Justine too, and how this scenario impacts everyone. In particular, Justine’s former physio and close friend Steve is someone obviously struggling to trust his memory of that time in their lives.
"The ambiguity was something that definitely drew me to it," actor Tom Varey says of this approach. "It was interesting to be able to play the same scenes, one through the filter of a memory and then one with a clear memory of what actually happened."
Equally close to the drama is Harmony Rose Bremner who plays Renee, Justine’s best friend and another tennis player. "With Justine, sometimes you like her, sometimes you don’t," she explains of the shifting dynamics. "Sometimes you’re with her and sometimes you’re like, 'What are you doing?' Nobody’s perfect, there’s no definite hero [in this story]."
However, probably the most fascinating relationship is with Mikki, a sports PR who starts dating Justine and becomes increasingly invested in her accusations. She’s played by Encanto star Jessica Darrow, who explains what got her excited about this story. "I'm always attracted to characters that fight for justice," Darrow smiles, "and also happen to be queer and that’s not what the show is about."
In particular, Darrow adds that there was something powerful that struck a chord with this approach as well, that she could relate to. "I remember feeling from my own personal experience, I wonder if I can open up about certain things. Not that I'm known to be a liar or anything but who knows if anyone would believe what I have to say? I think that's the whole point, you are supposed to see both sides. You are supposed to question your own judgments on things."
Sensitive handling
Of course, such a delicate narrative is something that needs to be undoubtedly handled with care in a show like this too, which is something Justine star Hyland highlights. "We were really taken care of," she explains about the heavy subject matter. "It felt like rather than thinking of what the story was doing, it was more following Hania’s lead and having a lot of faith in how she was telling that story and the nuances of it."
Part of this was working with intimacy coordinator Louise Kempton. "[We had] a lot of conversations about safety and what this dynamic would be," Hyland adds. "It is a very specific dynamic of control and power with how they would be in a space together in this world of sport."
It’s one with increasing numbers of real-life parallels too, which Turner says the writers were very aware of. "Those guys did a big deep dive on the greater subject of this kind of sexual abuse and abuse of power in many industries, not just sports. So by the time that we come on to the job, there's so much work already done."
As he puts it, everyone involved was well aware of the responsibility of the drama too, adding, "It’s a story that feels important to be told."
Fifteen-Love arrives on Amazon Prime Video on July 21. These interviews were done prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. If you’re impacted by any of the storylines discussed in this article, visit https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/want-to-talk/ for more resources.
