Alexandra
Moen
Emily James
Head of PR
Alexandra
Moen is more used to working with Daleks and Time Lords than chefs and
posh clients. Having played Lucy Saxon in two episodes of Doctor
Who, and Tamsin in the popular cult series Tripping Over,
the role of PR superwhizz Emily James was an interesting challenge.
"I
know a few women in the PR world, which is big business nowadays, but
courting PR is an alien concept to me despite how much fun it was to
play – that whole premise of aiming to please strikes me as a
bit dubious," says Alexandra.
"And
as for working in a hotel, I waited tables when I was a student but
I was a really, really bad waitress," she laughs.
"I
could never last in a restaurant job for more than a couple of months
because they would figure out that I wasn't very good at it. In fact,
walking in the corridors of Babylon brought back funny memories of those
jobs I had as a student – especially the staff canteen and the
memory of seeing a mouse running across the corridors!"
Despite
having access to PR professionals, Alexandra wanted to discover the
essence of Emily's character within the walls of the hotel and not be
influenced by any real-life personalities.
"I
remember getting the character brief and thinking Emily could be a brilliant
role to play," says Alexandra. "I completely saw who she was
and wanted to walk onto the set and just live her, rather than try and
put in too much research," she explains.
"The
beauty of Babylon is that we only see the characters at work,
which is a great comedic setting. We do, however, get glimpses of their
personal struggles and there are hints that Emily is a little off the
rails – let's just say she can down a bottle of vodka pretty quickly,
she is definitely a bit of a wild child."
Alexandra
had an opportunity to travel with her lead role as Tamsin in Mike Bullen's
2006 series, Tripping Over, which also starred Daniel MacPherson,
Paul McGann and Leon Ockenden.
"Playing
Tamsin in Tripping Over was my favourite role to date, and
it was filmed in London, Australia and Thailand. We worked in some amazing
locations and it was the first time I had been to Asia and Australia.
After filming, I went travelling in North Queensland and the desert."
Travelling,
it seems, is in Alexandra's genes. However, there are several countries
she could rightfully call home.
"I
was born in Italy and then briefly moved to Canada at the age of six,"
explains Alexandra. "My dad was an oceanographer so researched
different areas of the world.
"Then
we moved to Bermuda and lived there with my two brothers until I was
a teenager – which was fantastic for snorkelling, sun and swimming.
When we moved to the UK, I finished school and went to university and
drama school in London – which I definitely now see as home."
Having
watched Hotel Babylon before, Alexandra had an idea that she
would be thrown in amongst a great crowd of actors, despite not having
worked directly with any of them before. However, her first day was
not quite what she expected.
"On
my first day, the director hit me with one of the most difficult monologue
scenes, where everyone had to give me really nasty looks – so
that was a really great way in!" she laughs. "But it was a
lot of fun and it felt like home very, very quickly."
Emily James
is a well-connected, upper, middle class, privately educated young woman
who comes from the highest pedigree within the hotel industry. Her father
is an hotelier of international renown and prestige, yet Emily wants
to find her own feet within this environment.
When she
pulls some strings to bring in her celebrity chef pal, played by Alan
Davies, everything turns upside down and the hotel looks like it will
win back its restaurant's reputation.
"Emily
is really well connected and comes from good stock, particularly within
the industry, but she definitely doesn't put on airs and is pretty naïve
and innocent in some respects – too trusting," says Alexandra.
"She
is ballsy and bold but she is an eternal optimist. There is nothing
bitchy about her, and she doesn't deliberately step on anyone's toes.
She believes in what she is doing and throws herself full throttle into
crazy situations.
"Casting
Alan Davies as Otto Clark was inspired. There is something quite tempered
about him and his humour is quietly measured," she adds. "And
Emily thinks that Otto may be her ticket to PR fame and fortune, and
an opportunity to shine in her own right."
However,
that's where Alexandra's link with celebrity chefs ends. "I don't
think I have been to a celebrity chef restaurant in my life and, to
be honest, it doesn't interest me at all," she says. "But
I can't deny that I am a foodie and love finding fantastic local restaurants."
Alexandra
is, however, the first to admit that she is a hopeless cook –
something her boyfriend, director Sam Miller, will testify to.
"I
like baking cakes but I always get something slightly wrong," she
says. "I tried to make a pasta dish for my boyfriend, which was
supposed to be an Italian salmon and chive creamy dish, but, in the
end, it tasted so sour I tried to convince him that it was a Polish
dish – which he didn't buy in the least," she laughs.
Alexandra
shares eternal optimism with her character Emily and her other passion
is her music – she is a singer in a psychedelic electric pop group
– which she would love to tour the world with. Hot on her list
of places to visit are India and Africa, and she likes to travel to
New York as often as she can.
"Emily
has big plans for the hotel and I can imagine her hosting a Bollywood
convention or maybe a Doctor Who or Star Wars convention,
just so she can dress up," she laughs.
"Or,
perhaps, a James Bond-themed event or even hold the Bond press junkets
at Hotel Babylon and have Daniel Craig there in his swimming
trunks in the hotel pool! We could even restage the Casino Royale
poker game. Wouldn't it be great fun to have Bond walk through the doors?!"
she says, optimistically.
Hotel
Babylon
Series three
Staff profiles
Guest star profiles
Max Beesley
- Charlie Edwards
Dexter
Fletcher - Tony Casemore
Emma
Pierson - Anna Thornton-Wilton
Michael Obiora
- Ben Trueman
Ray Coulthard
- James Schofield
Martin
Marquez - Gino Primirola
Natalie
Mendoza - Jackie Clunes
Lee Williams
- Jack Harrison
