‘It was a bit of an education’: Katherine Parkinson reveals how her latest character excels at sex

A new role involving on-screen sex and dating apps has been quite the racy learning curve for British actor Katherine Parkinson, who stars in Spreadsheet.

As someone who’s been happily coupled up for almost two decades, dipping her toes into the world of dating apps for her latest role in new Aussie comedy Spreadsheet gave Brit actress Katherine Parkinson quite the thrill.

“It was a bit of an education for me,” Parkinson said.

“I realised just how addictive they might be. Even just filming a scene where I’d get a match, I’d be like ohhh. And it’s not a genuine match obviously.

“You do quickly get nostalgic for when you used to be in a nightclub and someone would grab your arse. But now I’m thinking ‘was that actually better?’.”

Katherine Parkinson stars in Spreadsheet. Picture: Supplied

She met her now husband, fellow actor, Harry Peacock in a rather old-school way. They were in a workshop at the National Theatre.

“He was playing a dog and he was really good at it, I was quite impressed,” Parkinson laughs.

Peacock asked for her number and texted “would you like to go to the movies tommmorrroow?.”

“And I thought I could not go out with someone who could not spell tomorrow, but I quickly changed my mind,” she said, adding with her trademark humour. “It was nice to meet someone who was so ill-educated.

“But I quickly fell for him. It’s a bit annoying. I was only 25 or something. If I’d know I’d meet him so early, I definitely would have got going a bit more.”

Her character in the original eight-part series for Paramount Plus, filmed in Melbourne, certainly “has got going”. Lauren is functioning at full capacity as a lawyer, two children, and a slightly inept ex-husband. Oh and she’s having a lot of casual sex. She’s not sure how to manage a slew of emotionally needy men – so that’s where the spreadsheet of the show’s title comes in.

Chris O'Dowd as Roy, Richard Ayoade as Moss and Katherine Parkinson as Jen in The IT Crowd. Picture: Supplied

Parkinson, who’s best known for her role as Jen Barber in The IT Crowd, laughed as she said the only similarities between she and her new on-screen alter ego were they look and sound quite similar. “She’s better dressed and much cooler than me,” she said.

Parkinson does have two daughters like Lauren and they and Peacock joined her in Australia for the shoot. They survived the two-week quarantine.

“I have to say I really enjoyed it. I’ve never had so much sleep.

“My husband really struggled about the fact that you can’t leave your room. I’m a bit stupider than him so I was a bit like ‘well, this is what is in front of me’.

“It was actually really nice family time. It’s quite a privilege to not have to rush and do school drops.”

Excelling at sex: the cast of the new Paramount+ drama series Spreadsheet. Stephen Curry, Katrina Milosevic, Katherine Parkinson, Robbie Magasiva, Rowan Witt. Picture: Ten

It was also a joy to work with the talented ensemble cast with Rowan Witt, Robbie Magasiva, Stephen Curry, Katrina Milosevic, Ryan Shelton and Kerry Armstrong,

“My favourite part of the job was the other actors,” Parkinson said. “I thought without exception – even the people who had one scene – were just so funny and lovely and brilliant. Also there was no jump between the British sense of humour.”

Spreadsheet, streaming Wednesday, Paramount Plus

Originally published as ‘It was a bit of an education’: Katherine Parkinson reveals how her latest character excels at sex