‘as women we can’t take our foot off the gas’
We celebrate the latest triumphs of screen stars Sarah Lancashire and Suranne Jones as they share the secrets of their stellar careers
Actresses Suranne Jones and Sarah Lancashire have a lot in common, not least that they are both national treasures having won legions of fans during their TV careers. They have also both set up television production companies (with husbands Laurence Akers and Peter Salmon) so they can develop their own shows.
Of course, both Suranne and Sarah first found fame on Coronation Street, as Karen Mcdonald and Raquel Watts respectively, and they each went on to wow viewers with gritty performances in police dramas created by star writer Sally Wainwright.
Sarah, 59, said she adored “every scene, every moment of Happy Valley and I know I will never forget it,” and last week she was “thrilled” to win a coveted Rose d’or award for her role as Sergeant Catherine Cawood.
Suranne, 45, who starred alongside Lesley Sharp in Sally’s hit show Scott & Bailey, also heaped praise on the screenwriter’s work, telling OK!, “Her writing is so real and so human, and there are so many levels to it. It’s mucky and dirty and fun and musical. Scott & Bailey is such a good show.”
Despite this, Suranne swore she’d never play a detective again because of the jargon.
“But here I am!” she tells us, as season two of gripping BBC crime drama Vigil returns to our screens on Sunday nights.
We caught up with the acting legends to talk about their recent successes and the importance of strong female roles in TV...
Who, or what, inspired you to become an actor? There were two performances that inspired me to become an actor on television. One was Gemma Jones playing Portia in The Merchant Of Venice – I’ve never been able to get that out of my head. Actually when I worked with Gemma I told her that. And the second was my father allowing me to stay up a little late one night. He told me there was a film I might enjoy, and that was Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie. So those were the two performances. It was particular actors who made an impression, who made their mark.
We hear your parents played an important part in shaping your acting ambitions…
My dad was a scriptwriter and my mum helped him out. My parents met at Granada in Manchester but it never put me off being surrounded by the business as I knew that environment so well. I spent a lot of my childhood in corridors at Granada in Quay Street from the age of five or six-years-old up. So if they’d never been there I would have never gone into this industry at all.
It’s purely because it was presented to me.
‘very often characters choose you rather than the other way round’
The women you play are always so well-loved. Would you like to play a villain?
I don’t know as I hope the characters I play are flawed as well. I think my Happy Valley character was flawed and a complicated character. The more complex they are, the more interesting they are to play.
So what would be your dream role?
I don’t know, to be honest. It’s always a lovely surprise when something turns up and you haven’t seen it before. I think very often characters choose you rather than the other way around. A couple of pages into a script, it’s very exciting when you can feel them, hear them and taste them. Really well-written characters are fantastic to play because they have a complexity – there’s just more to discover in them. And I think I’ve been quite lucky really in what has come my way.
Do you agree there is more work out there for actresses in their forties, fifties and beyond now?
I do think so, yes. There has definitely been a sea change. It’s an interesting one and though it has not perhaps moved as quickly as people would have liked, it has progressed a heck of a lot.
It can be a tricky time thanks to the effects of menopause. How was your experience of this?
I have to confess, I didn’t particularly open up about it. I was caught very hot at the national Television Awards. I was racing around the corridors as I was late getting back to my seat so I can blame it on that. My memory? I’m pretty sharp. you have to be!
Hi Suranne! We’re so glad you’re back for the second series of The first was amazing.
Vigil.
I didn’t know what it would be like after the first one because the first series was so wild and brilliant. I like the fact that my character Amy and Kirsten’s relationship is in the middle of such a big thriller – at the heart of it is the two of us. (Rose Leslie plays DC Kirsten Longacre, Amy’s colleague as well as pregnant partner on the show.) I was really interested to see where we went, and the fact that one of us was having a baby helped.
Do you relate to your character, DCI Amy Silva, at all?
Amy and I share being a woman who wants to constantly prove herself. I have a child, I share that. I’m constantly trying to balance my life and my career. I’ve had issues with anxiety, which Amy has had, so there’s a lot of things I can relate to – there’s a beauty in finding that in a character. And then getting to know Rose and us having a great friendship.
You’ve played a few gay characters on television now. What draws you to these roles?
I think you’re drawn to a character, to what that person can give you and what you can give to the person. Obviously through Gentleman Jack I found a community that was so open and wonderful and receptive and willing to share their experiences with me. I thought, “Wow, if this could be another part of the job – that you can really connect on a whole other level.” So I think by doing that particular job and then this one, I’ve been very welcomed as an ally, and I take it very seriously.
What was it like returning to a show like with so many new cast members?
Vigil
There are so many characters, and Amy has to remember everybody’s name. There are so many brilliant younger actors. I say younger, they’re not that young, they’re just younger than me!
You play strong women – we’re thinking Doctor Foster and Gentleman Jack for starters. Are you pleased women are making their mark in TV?
From when I started 25 years ago, I think we’ve come such a long way – but we can’t take our foot off the gas. We tell stories, but we also need to keep those stories up. We need the people behind the cameras to be telling the story, and we need the writers to be giving their experiences. There’s so much content needed and there are so many places we can put our stories now. TV has changed, the way we watch TV has changed, so I think the key is to not settle and to keep finding the stories and pushing for those people to come forward.
What was it like filming in Morocco for this series of Vigil?
It was fabulous! There was a huge tea table with lots of biscuits, and we had a great crew too. My driver tried to teach me French every day – I didn’t do very well. It was really good, also, to get out into the world.