Sally Lindsay: ‘Normal, honest people are being ripped off’
Sally Lindsay’s phone scam thriller was almost too close for comfort…
Former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay is set to play a more serious role than usual in Channel 5 thriller ColdCall. In it she plays June, a downtrodden single mum desperately trying to keep herself, her pregnant daughter and elderly mum afloat – until she falls victim to a phone scam and her life begins to dramatically unravel. Here Sally, 46 - married to drummer Steve White, and mum to nine-year-old boys Victor and Louie – reveals she almost fell for a scam herself…
What drew you to Cold Call?
Phone scamming is a scary problem that people don’t know enough about. Normal, law-abiding citizens are getting ripped off everyday. You think it’s only happening to old ladies living on their own, but it’s not. These people are incredibly convincing. The script was petrifying and compelling – I said ‘yes’ in a heartbeat!
Were you aware of how huge a problem cold call fraud is?
It’s funny, I received a cold call the week before I went for a meeting about this role! It was supposedly from the gas board – but I knew my husband had paid the gas bill.
Still, I was pretty convinced by this bloke saying, ‘ You’ll be cut off and we’ll have to sue’. I stayed on the line and said, ‘I’m going to have to ring the gas board’ and it went dead. It’s happening all the time to normal people, it’s scary.
On a positive note, there are lovely female relationships in this…
There are – and I connect with them, as I was brought up by women. My grandma was a seamstress, I adored her. Mum had three jobs and I’d go with her. My dad was very traditional – he was mainly in the pub!
But my auntie lived at the end of our street, I saw her all the time. So, it was all about the women for me. I drew on their camaraderie to play June.
June undergoes quite a transformation, doesn’t she?!
Doesn’t she?! Ever seen that film Falling Down, with Michael Douglas? She reminds me of him. June’s done everything right all her life. She’s a Good Samaritan, a great mother, daughter, the best carer – and she still gets s*** on. Something clicks and she decides, that’s it – she can’t take it any more. That’s what blew my mind about her. How far would she go? l Cold Call is on Channel 5 nightly at 9pm, from Mon 18th to Thurs 21st Nov.
‘I was brought up by women and I drew on their camaraderie to play June’