Small Is Beautiful:
A Gemm Of An Actress Plays A Canny British Cop
Daily News, 7 August 2005
By Denis Hamill
Starting next Sunday at 9 p.m., Sharon Small's ample talent will light up the summer reruns of PBS' popular "Inspector Lynley Mysteries."
In this British cop series, Nathaniel Parker plays Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, an aristocrat by birth, and Small is Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, his working-class partner. Havers cares for her ailing parents in their council flat, dresses like a female Columbo as she scours a netherworld of kidnappings, rapes, child abuse and murder, and searches for love.
Though never stated, the sexual tension between Havers and Lynley - and her unrequited love for him -drives this gritty show adapted from the bestselling novels written by American author Elizabeth George.
How close is Small's background to Havers?
"Well I'm Scottish, not English," says the 36-year-old actress, who lives with her boyfriend in London.
"But I come from a seaside village named Kinghorn, where we didn't really have much money. My mum was a housewife, and my dad did various salesmen jobs. I left there at 19 to go to drama school in London.
"I was bored, I suppose, and wanted to see everything possible in the world," she says. "I had a keen interest in the emotional intelligence that drives people. I was never a show-off. That wasn't what inspired me. I just loved the human interaction of people."
In the "Lynley Mysteries," Havers is acutely aware of the social gulf between herself and Lynley. Small says she herself wasn't as class-conscious growing up.
"In Scotland we don't have the same class system as exists in England," she says. "So I wasn't as aware of class until I came to London, where the disparity of people's wealth was a culture shock. When I got the part of Havers, they thought about making me Scottish, but that would have been completely wrong for what Elizabeth George was trying to do in these mysteries.
"She brings objectivity, a fresh point of view," Small adds. "The British have such a history of class distinctions that they might approach something like this in a roundabout way. Ms. George doesn't. Her extremes make it work. There are about four aristocrats, a couple of them lords, who actually are in police service in England, so it isn't so farfetched."
The "Lynley Mysteries" third- season reruns will air through Sept. 4. The fourth season ran in June and July; the fifth starts production next month and will air next summer.
Glistening Eyes
Small is now shooting the latest film in the equally gritty "Inspector Rebus" TV series, based on Ian Rankin's Scottish detective novels. She's also appeared in such well-reviewed movies as "About a Boy" and "Dear Frankie," and recently completed a play in London.
The unglamorous Havers remains Small's calling card. Still, there are moments in the series when her bed-head hair, wounded eyes and rumpled anorak can't hide her beauty. In one wrenching scene, Havers sits with Lynley in their car after his posh wife has told him she's pregnant. He's stunned by the idea of being a father, since his marriage is so strained and he's inexplicably attracted to Havers. When Lynley tells her the news, her face dissolves into a jumble of tics, glistening eyes and a beaming smile. She's clearly happy for Lynley, but her heart is breaking. Havers has never looked more beautiful than in that moment, and it doesn't escape Lynley's attention. They deal with their conflicts by discussing the murder at hand. This scene is the "Lynley Mysteries" in microscosm.
Asked if she's worried about being typecast as a woman to whom everyone would like to give a makeover, Small laughs and says, "Even my mum says, 'Oh, Sharon, ya look terrible.' Well, before 'Lynley,' I came off a role where I played a glamorous venture capitalist in 'Glasgow Kiss.' So, yeah, playing Havers makes going through makeup a breeze, but it's something I have to deal with careerwise. I'm realistic. I'm no great beauty - I'm an actress. So I have no problem playing down and dirty."
