Interview: Stefanie Martini on Maigret
British actor Stefanie Martini is no stranger to period drama, but in the new and altogether contemporary MASTERPIECE Mystery! adaptation of Maigret, she brings warmth and wisdom to her role as the famed Madame Maigret. Discover her insights on her character, her costar, her French culinary experiences, and a no-fail recommendation for what to do in Paris!
What drew you to Madame Maigret, and how is she different in this new adaptation?
I was drawn to the fact that she is capable and kind and smart, and she’s on a level with her husband and they’re equals. He listens to her, and she listens to him. They care about each other deeply. And it’s not a common dynamic, really, in relationships on television. It’s normally drama, drama, drama, drama between them. It could have so easily been yet another, “Oh, you’re out again and that’s really tough, and our relationship’s falling apart,” but that’s not where the drama comes from between them. It felt quite grounded and calm and strong, so it felt like something I would really enjoy doing. I love playing relationship-y stuff, how humans interact together, and what love is, and what that means, and what a successful relationship is.
In the books, they have a very successful relationship as well. There are some really beautiful quotes about how he feels about his wife and how much he wants to go home to her, which I read a lot of at the very beginning. But also in those books, she’s kind of the idealized sort of at home wife with an apron on, making food—which she still is, but just in her 21st century version. She’s got her own job, and she can match him.
A hallmark of Maigret as a detective is his empathy and insight into human behavior, something that Louise has as well.
Yes, both of them work with huge empathy at the center of how they understand the world, and it’s something that joins them in their understanding of each other. I think it also makes sense of why their relationship works, how she can tolerate and understand and actually thrive in a relationship where her husband is constantly out of the door or putting himself in dangerous situations, or they barely see each other because she’s working all night and he’s working all day, or vice versa. There’s a lot of empathy and understanding and trust, and a security in knowing that none of that is threatening to them and their relationship. They are the most important thing to each other, at the end of the day. And the rest of it is very important because they’re doing things that genuinely affect people’s lives, but they still have each other. And I think they both really need that.
I understand you’ve known Benjamin Wainwright for a long time?
Yes, he was in the same year of drama school as one of my best, best, best, best friends, and they went to a different drama school to me. So he’s been in social circles in the periphery. We’ve been at parties together, we’ve been at gigs together for over a decade. So it was nice.
You filmed in Budapest, but in the spirit of Maigret, do you have a favorite French food?
We ate so many croissants. There was a day when we ate about 20 croissants. Basically, in that whole shoot, we were constantly eating. It was fantastic. Croissants and Vietnamese food, which we ate like 8:00am, which felt slightly odd.
So Madame Maigret has an actual genuine published cookbook, Madame Maigret’s Recipes, which I got on eBay. I looked through it and was going to get really “character study” and start making stuff out of it, but then I ran out of time. It’s like creamy French, deliciously juicy, fatty, cheesy goodness.
I don’t think that as a person, I’m as classy as Madame Maigret, so I quite enjoyed the sophistication, the wine and food. They gave me one of those big basket bags to put my groceries in, and that really felt French.
Have you visited Paris, and if yes, do you have any favorite spots to visit or things to do?
I’ve been to Paris a handful of times, and normally I’m very good at directions and have a sense of where things fit together, but I just don’t have that in Paris. All I seem to do when I’m there is just walk and walk and walk and walk, and yet I still don’t have a clue where I am. I love Shakespeare & Co., the bookshop, and this may be a bit obviously touristy, but to be honest, I just love walking around and books and croissants. And someone had told me you can buy champagne from a shop and then get some plastic cups and just sit outside the Eiffel Tower. So I love doing that, sitting by the river and then seeing all the proposals happening, because everyone’s getting proposed to. I think every time I’m in Paris, I see at least seven or eight people getting proposed to, and it’s gorgeous. And I’m just sat there with a plastic cup of champagne going, “Congratulations!”
