Casualty exclusive: Sarah Seggari ‘We filmed for six hours on a closed set’

Beloved Casualty nurse Rida Amaan, played by Sarah Seggari, is the subject of the medical drama’s latest miniseries Internal Affairs, exploring the imbalance of power in the workplace.

Since the 12-parter storyline kicked off, viewers have watched on as talented medic Rida was poached from the department by revered surgeon Russell Whitelaw (Cold Feet’s Robert Bathurst). Yet, Rida’s dreams of working with the hospital’s elite surgical team quickly turned into a nightmare, leaving her a shell of herself.

Spoilers for tonight’s episode (Saturday, May 24) beyond this point

In tonight’s episode Rida, who has previously been sexually assaulted by Whitelaw, bravely attempted to gather evidence against the predatory physician. However, her plan backfired and resulted in the vulnerable nurse being subjected to a horrifying and violating attack.

Here Sarah, 29, who filmed the scenes on a closed set, tells us more…

What’s in your mind when filming something as difficult as this with real world echoes?

“It gives me even more of a push to do justice to the truth of the story, because these things really happen. During filming [which took place last year in Cardiff] the New York Times had published an article about a surgeon accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace and it was almost word for word what we were playing.“Unfortunately this really happens in hospitals and it’s terrible. I did a lot of research for this story and spoke to victims of abuse who have now left medicine. I made sure that I remembered the truth of what had really happened to the people affected.”

Were there a lot of conversations about how the sexual assault scenes in Internal Affairs Episode 7 would be filmed?

“Yes, we were trepidatious about how we were going to film, not only in a surgery setting but because the surgical mask and hijab can feel claustrophobic. It was also the height of Summer and so hot and uncomfortable it aided playing the confusion, anger and denial that Rida goes through. A lot of what I had to say got taken into account with the producers and directors.”

Were specific techniques used during filming?

“There’s beautiful filmography work of filming through blinds, in offices and in tight spaces. During my research I learned that women who go through that kind of abuse and misconduct will gravitate towards corners and try to have their back to a wall, so that they can see anybody who’s coming, so I used that.”

Sarah and Robert in action. (Image credit: BBC STUDIOS.)

How were the distressing scenes in tonight’s episode filmed?

“We filmed it for six hours. It was a big [undertaking] because I look a certain way at the beginning, it’s filmed in one, and by the end, I look completely different. So each time we reset it was a massive reset for everybody. Also, because there’s a lot of emotion, screaming and words that are said, it can be triggering for everybody who’s watching filming, so we had to be careful and do a closed set and be in tune with everybody. It was a group effort to make that scene as important as it was.”

What are your feelings about Russell’s actions?

“It’s an accident, but nonetheless, none of the things coming up to that moment should have happened. Robert plays it beautifully. I haven’t watched it yet, but I think it was important for it not to be on purpose, otherwise we’d all be saying: ‘Prison for him, he must go.’”

How was it working with Robert on these scenes?

“I can say that Robert is completely different to his character! He is the polar opposite, super easy to work with, and we really bonded. While working upstairs in a different studio [on a specially constructed surgery department] we all – Olly Rix, who plays Flynn Byron, Robert, Seth Somers, who plays Sean Redmond and Sammy Dobson, who plays Nicole Piper, felt like our own sub-community and became a really close family.”

There are two more episodes to come in Internal Affairs. Can you hint what lies ahead?

“Hair is sacred in the Muslim faith and the violation is catastrophic for Rida. For Russell to rip off her hijab and disrespect and abuse her in this way is as bad as, if not worse, than his first assault. It’s a racial attack and such an abuse of power that, going forward, it changes the way she thinks about the world and herself. We handled it with real care and I hope we did it justice.”

What’s in your mind when filming something as difficult as this with real world echoes?

Were there a lot of conversations about how the sexual assault scenes in Internal Affairs Episode 7 would be filmed?

Were specific techniques used during filming?

How were the distressing scenes in tonight’s episode filmed?

What are your feelings about Russell’s actions?

How was it working with Robert on these scenes?

There are two more episodes to come in Internal Affairs. Can you hint what lies ahead?

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