Natascha McElhone on Bella’s Season 3 Journey on 'Hotel Portofino'

After five episodes of heartbreaking plot twists, star-crossed romances, devastating betrayals, and some genuinely fabulous vistas, Hotel Portofino will end its third season on the day before Labor Day, Sunday, September 1, 2024. 

As the hotel’s proprietor, Natascha McElhone’s Bella Ainsworth has spent the season starting her own business, dealing with family members who came for a visit and still haven’t left, navigating a new romance, trying to save her hotel from financial ruin, and so much more. “You want as much external jeopardy and pressure as possible to propel the interior story of the life of the hotel and the family and what’s at stake,” McElhone told Telly Visions during a recent interview.

The jeopardy this season has been plenty. The stock market has crashed. Portofino’s resident fascist Vincenzo Danioni (Pasquale Esposito) keeps threatening to shut the hotel down. Her father has had a heart attack. Her son Lucian (Oliver Dench) is reeling from discovering that his best friend was murdered. Her husband, Cecil (Mark Umbers), simply refuses to go away and become her ex-husband. 

The show has not yet been renewed for a fourth season, and while McElhone would love to do more of the popular series, she has enjoyed some well-deserved time off. “This is my first summer where I haven’t worked, and it’s amazing,” she says. 

Below, McElhone discusses the show’s third season. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Telly Visions: What did you think when you learned this season would be set against the stock market crash?

Natascha McElhone: I found that super exciting. You need as many obstacles as possible in a TV series, right? But ones that are plausible and not just self-generated. It seemed like a very good time period to dip into because it shook up the snow globe and changed the fate of many characters in a way they would have to adapt to. 

TV: The introduction of Bella’s father and sister showed viewers a whole different side to her this season. 

NM: I think it really amplified how we can get infantilized by our families of origin. You can be a fully functioning human being and have your own family, but when you are surrounded by your family of origin, the dynamics re-emerge that were always there, and you fold back into those roles even if they’re not helpful. I thought all of that was pretty interesting and something that most people could find some resonance with.  

TV: The other big change for Bella this season is that she has started her own business by creating lotions and soaps. It’s quite the side hustle!

NM: Necessity is the mother of invention. She’s in financial trouble. The fact that it’s energized by necessity versus a little whim or a fancy gives it a bit more firepower, and hopefully, people can relate to it a little more. We’ve been in situations where we've had to pivot and find a way to make something work. I like the relevance of that, I suppose. Even though her father will always diminish her efforts and refer to them as a rich woman’s playthings, that’s okay, and Claudine advises her and says there’s no point in living your life in reaction to a dominant parent. You have to follow your own instincts.

TV: I love the Claudine and Bella friendship, which evolves even more this season. 

NM: Their friendship is so nice. It’s so wonderful. [Laughs] I don’t know how much she reciprocates. They spend an awful lot of time talking about Bella’s issues. 

TV: Bella is also somewhat ahead of her time. She even wears pants this season. The show reminds viewers how much women were and weren’t allowed to do and how much of their autonomy was taken away during this period.

NM: People comment on the dress code and how dramatically different that is, and I think, ‘Oh my goodness, hair removal is still pretty expected. It’s always surprising that everyone complies with these kinds of supposed social norms. High heels, for example. Why do people still clump around in shoes that will give them back issues and they can’t walk in? 

TV: How do you view Bella now that you’ve played her for three seasons?

NM: As much as she can, she’s decided not to be a victim of her circumstances but to try to be an architect of her life as much as possible and within the existing constraints. She’s a master navigator of obstacles and getting around them, which is always fun to play. She’s a solution-finder. She doesn’t stay stuck in the problem.

TV: How do you relate to Bella?

NM: The person I know most connected with that era is my mother-in-law, who is 92. She doesn’t throw things away; she mends, upcycles, and has forever. I talked to her an awful lot about this period. She said, “No one would go somewhere hot in the summer. No, that’s absolute madness. You might go in October.” She said you used to bump into the same people when traveling if you were of that class because very few people could travel. I did some of my social history through her because she remembers her mother and grandmother very well. 

TV: Do you know what will happen during the season before you begin filming?

NM: Yes. That’s also very unusual for TV series. The show I just signed up for, I just had a sample size. Often, you are going based on very little when you say “yes” to something. It’s so different than film, which is what I started in. Matt was very organized. He would write and deliver the story arc before we even went to Croatia [where the show is filmed]. We still continued to adapt and change things as necessary, but Season 3 was a lot more organized than the first two, and I think it shows in the end product.

TV: Rose, Nish . . . The show has proven to be one that’s not afraid to kill off characters, which makes me worried about the season finale and what might happen. 

NM: I think it’s important, isn’t it, not to repeat the dynamics and cyclical nature of family life. So, as much as possible, we need to be pulled in different directions and out of our comfort zones. We have obstacles and are always looking for the next thing that stops us from getting what we want as a character. And I think [series creator] Matt Baker did a good job of that. I know that’s what I look for as a viewer. I like to be surprised. Our show is more of a gentle form of escapism entertainment. However, hopefully, it still manages to explore family dynamics, the juxtaposition of public versus private life, and the rise of populism and the power of corruption, which, of course, is something that we are all very aware of at the moment that hopefully might be rectified soon. 

TV: Any hints you can offer on the season finale?

NM:  It’s confusing, but in a great way. It could go any which way after this, which I think is its strength.

Hotel Portofino Season 3 concludes next Sunday, September 1, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET on most PBS stations and streams on the PBS app and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. As always, check your local listings. Seasons 1 through 3 are available on PBS Passport for members to stream.