'Archie's' Laura Aikman On Doing Justice to Dyan Cannon’s “Untameable” Spirit

BritBox’s four-part biographical drama Archie is, ostensibly, the story of Archibald Leach, the man generally known to the world as Cary Grant. But while the show touches on multiple periods of his life, from his childhood in poverty to his young adulthood on stage and his mid-life movie superstardom, it finds its most substantial focus when Grant’s fourth wife, Dyan Cannon, enters the picture.

Thirty-three years his junior, the show portrays her as competent enough to know a romance with Grant is sure to be a mistake; she nevertheless finds herself drawn in by the relentless charm, self-deprecating humor, and good looks that made him a star in the first place. She’s wary when he insists he doesn’t want a family, even ends things with him at one point, but ends up marrying him, ignoring all the red flags of his controlling nature. The collapse of their brief union, though vaguely framed around Grant’s discovery that his mother Elsie (played by a prickly Harriet Walter) is still alive, is really about Cannon’s ultimate decision to save herself and the daughter they share from a relationship that’s crushing her spirit.

Laura Aikman, who plays Cannon, is a delight from her first moments onscreen, and her take on the actress is grounded in an effervescent charm and self-aware intelligence. We got to chat with the actress about working with Jason Isaacs, doing justice to Dyan Cannon’s story, and more.