Of course, with series such as Episodes and Black Books, Greig is known for her comic work, but she is also a stage actor of considerable acclaim. For many theatre lovers, it was her Malvolia in Simon Godwin’s 2017 gender-bending production of Twelfth Night at the National Theatre that really drew attention to her talents. Olivia’s puritanical sourpuss servant, Malvolio, was recast as a desperately lonely woman stricken with unrequited love for her mistress, and thanks to Greig this figure of fun became heartbreakingly tragic.
The role was not without controversy – there were concerns expressed at the time, including in this paper, about whether women should be taking male roles, but Greig gives such objections short shrift. “I think the big male leads will be just fine,” she says with a pointed smile. “Of course, today we might have other arguments over who should be playing what role. Someone might say, well, why were you playing Malvolia at all? You are married to a man [the actor turned writer Richard Leaf, with whom she has three teenage children]. How can you possibly know what it is to play a woman in love with a woman?”
Well, indeed. What would Greig say if someone were to make that argument? “I’d say that you don’t know my past or where I stand,” she says. “But I also think we should always be ready to grapple with our decisions.” Still, it’s a hornet’s nest.
What about Friday Night Dinner? Greig had a paternal Ashkenazi great grandfather, who was a Rabbi, but she doesn’t identify as Jewish – in fact, she is a practising Christian. “I think, given our sensitivity today about these issues, I probably shouldn’t have been in that show,” she says. “We are much more conscious today than we were when that show was first aired. For instance, Cleopatra has long been on my list of roles to play but I have to step back from that now, because Cleopatra needs to be played by someone who looks like they may have come from that area of the world. That’s absolutely right. But I’ll keep Lady Macbeth on the list,” she adds mischievously. Thankfully, Greig is a Scottish name.
Greig has a disarmingly silvery voice – she would make a great therapist – but she is also a very sharp thinker. She makes all the right noises about the need to learn constructively from other people’s sensitivities, but she is also concerned about the wider implications of modern cancel culture.
