Two-time BAFTA nominee Nicola Walker has acted in many series, including “Last Tango in Halifax,” “Collateral,” and “River.” She’s also appeared in features such as “Beyond the Gates” and “Second Coming.” Her latest project is “The Split,” a six-episode series from “Suffragette” writer Abi Morgan. The series sees Walker playing Hannah Sterne, a divorce attorney who leaves her family’s law firm after being passed over for promotion. But her career isn’t the only part of her life in upheaval: Hannah also has to deal with the return of her estranged father, her younger sister’s upcoming wedding, and her own loving but stagnant marriage.

We recently spoke with Walker about “The Split,” its portrayal of women and relationships, and whether we can expect another season of “Last Tango in Halifax.”

“The Split” is currently airing on BBC One in the UK. It’ll make its U.S. premiere May 23 on SundanceTV.

This interview has been edited. It was transcribed by Beandrea July.

W&H: So you’ve had quite a run lately — “Last Tango in Halifax,” “Unforgotten,” “The River” — but this feels a little bit different in terms of the types of roles that you have had. Can you talk a little bit about what this character is for you in your career?

NW: It is different for me, because you go with Hannah through this series. Really, that’s the first time I’ve been able to do that — to feel what it’s like to walk through a series and have the audience go with my character. That really was very exciting for me as an actor, but really refreshing to go through the story with that female gaze, and is still quite unusual. That was a big draw for doing it. So, yeah, this job has felt different to me.

W&H: I watched the first three episodes, and the writing feels really contemporary. I noticed that the producers are women and the director is a woman. In terms of how you were able to deal with Hannah and her experiences, did it feel different and special in terms of having so many women behind the scenes?

NW: Absolutely, it felt very special. I’ve worked with [“The Split” executive producer] Jane Featherstone for many years now. The fact that the team around it was this amazing group of women who I really respect and what was attractive to me — apart from the brilliant scripts and story and the characters — was being in that environment with those women making something,

That felt very exciting. What has been heartening for me is seeing a direct correlation between women getting into positions of power and the stories that they’re interested in telling.

W&H: Have you noticed that the scripts are a little different in the last couple of years in general?

NW: I am feeling the effects of women getting into commissioning positions and heading up production companies. I’m feeling that trickle down into the work that’s being made and the parts that are on offer.

W&H: With the #MeToo movement growing and becoming so big, and as an actor in the UK, talk about what you have noticed in your community over the last six months since all these allegations started coming out and people started speaking up.

NW: Obviously, it’s a public conversation that’s been long overdue. We all know that. Privately those conversations have always been going on between actors and actresses in the business.

I was really impressed with how quickly Vicky Featherstone, Jane Featherstone’s sister who runs London’s Royal Court Theatre — her response was so interesting because it was so immediate. As the female head of a major theater for new writing, she immediately responded very vocally and publicly. She threw the doors open and said, “Right, let’s talk about this.”

So I’ve been really impressed with how the business has responded. Also there’s a real sense that now we’ve started talking, it’s the beginning of the conversation, and I think what we all hope is that there’s no going back. With any new movement or conversation any effect isn’t going to be immediate, but I certainly think it’s not going to stop now.

“The Split”: Mark Johnson

W&H: How do you think American audiences are going to react to “The Split”?

NW: Among the family on set — the three daughters and the mother — we wondered about it a lot. Hannah’s using divorce and divorce law as a Trojan horse to talk about relationships, modern marriage, and why we still do it. It’s not just about the splits between husbands and wives, it’s about splits within the families: between mothers and daughters, between partners, and between siblings and parents. So I’m hoping it will travel really well because of that.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge for you in being centered in the story and being the heartbeat of it?

NW: The challenges are Hannah’s challenges because she has been at the center of that family. She’s been that eldest child that took on huge amounts of responsibility when she was a little girl. She took on an extra parenting role from the time the father walked out. For as much her mother [the character Ruth, played by Deborah Findlay] is absolutely dominant — she is your archetypal strong mother — but very clearly Hannah, she’s always been incredibly responsible, so that is her character. She has put herself from a very young age at the center of it.

I loved every day of filming. To get a chance to really tell Hannah’s story. Abi [Morgan, series writer] just sees how people work, the good and the bad. Jessica Hobbs directs in the same way. So you knew you were being really being taken care of. I think every character felt like that. All the men as well. They didn’t leave anybody out. All of those characters, they all reveal themselves as it goes on. You’re in a very different place by the final episode.

W&H: What are you doing next?

NW: I’m filming the third series of “Unforgotten” at the moment, so I’ve just been filming that today and I’ve got a quite a big day tomorrow. I’m up to my neck in reveals!

W&H: Is there going to be more “Last Tango in Halifax”?

NW: We all want that to be. I love my character, Gillian, with all my heart. [“Last Tango in Halifax” writer] Sally Wainwright is incredibly busy directing of very big 10-part drama series. But we’re not in a rush. Those characters are still ticking along. We’ll wait as long as it takes for Sally to get the time.

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