Jimmy Penwarden (Ed Speleers)
The stud. Son to Mark (Hugo Speer) and Susan (Martine McCutcheon). Likes his rides fast. Finds instant attraction with new girl Abi but promises his lovestruck best friend Charlie that he won't try it on with her.
Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach is quite an interesting idea. How would you describe the concept?
"Basically you've got Moving Wallpaper, which is a mockumentary, fly-on-the-wall, The Office-style show about writers and producers putting together a drama called Echo Beach. I steer clear of using the word 'soap'; that's what people are using, but I call it a continuing drama. That obviously has its crossovers with Echo Beach, which actually airs straight afterwards."
And in Echo Beach you play Jimmy Penwarden. What's he like?
"He's alright. He's a bit of a ladies man, into his motorbiking, a man of the beach. But he has this big conflict in the fact that his dad, played by Hugo Speer, is very money-driven and all about success. Jimmy's not really interested in that, he just wants a good lifestyle and good fun. This unravels throughout the series, as relationships develop and relationships fall apart within the families. I think Jimmy also goes through quite a hard time dealing with whether he can get with [Abi] or not. He ends up in a bit of a sorry state."
How was it filming the more racy scenes?
"I wasn't daunted. If you think about it too much it's not going to look natural. The best thing to do is just get on with it, do it, and enjoy what you're doing. This is what you do for a living and you know you're going to come up against sex scenes. By the end of the day you start to feel comfortable. You know the crew aren't up to antics and everyone's on your side."
As you mentioned there are crossovers between the two shows. In the second episode of Moving Wallpaper the executive producer says that your character should put a shirt on because your nipples are "too feminine". Does that bother you?
"As long as people don't dwell on my nipples that's fine. These references are going to be there and that's half the game as well. The only possible fear is whether it's looking like Moving Wallpaper is taking the piss out of Echo Beach. If yes, they wouldn't put the two shows together. Nobody's out to take the piss out of anyone else."
Source: Digitalspy.co.uk
