Whether playing DI Kate Fleming in Line of Duty or a back-against-the-wall bomb disposal expert in ITV’s Trigger Point, Vicky McClure has mastered the art of procedurals over the years.

But in Paramount+ series Insomnia from The Crown producer Left Bank, in which she plays a career woman, Emma, who experiences a breakdown when she suddenly stops being able to sleep, the actor-producer bucked the trend. “I feel like I’ve grown up, I’m 40 now,” McClure told an Insomnia Q&A in London late last month. “There’s a lot of procedural drama that I do and I enjoy it, but I was excited to step into something that felt different.” McClure added that she quite enjoyed walking in heels for the entirety of the series, for example.

McClure’s challenge was made trickier by the fact she has never suffered from insomnia – although “just a bad night’s sleep can take you off kilter,” she said – and she told the Q&A that making the show had given her a new-found sympathy for those who suffer from sleep deprivation.

The series borrows from horror and supernatural elements to depict the psychological effects of the condition on Emma and those around her. “I can only imagine how insomnia when left on its own can destroy your life,” she added. “I have a massive sympathy for people who face insomnia on a day-to-day basis and then just go to work.” Penned by Sarah Pinborough, who wrote the original source material, the series is one of the UK originals that wasn’t culled by Paramount+ when it pivoted focus to Hollywood franchises several months back under former boss Bob Bakish.

“I Feel Like I’ve Grown Up”: ‘Line Of Duty’ Star Vicky McClure On Stepping Out Her Comfort Zone In Paramount+ Thriller Series ‘Insomnia’

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