“I’ve had so many career highlights – I
think the best feeling was standing
on the London Palladium stage with
a packed house full of people on their
feet cheering at the top of their voices –
raising the roof. I was playing the lead so
that moment is pretty high up there.
“I have worked with some awful people –
loads of them – but I can’t say who they
are as I will probably bump into most of
them at some stage!
all of a sudden
people were staring
at me because
they’d seen the one
episode.
“Another best mate, Damian Williams,
who is a great actor, has always been
someone who’s guided me through a
lot of my work – I think he has been the
biggest influence on me.
“In terms of my preference for stage and
television – there’s a difference in the
style and the creative process but the
principle – well, they’re both trying to do
the same thing, which is to give a truthful
performance. I love the teamwork in both
their separate ways – it’s exciting to do
television but it’s strange because your
buzz moment is when it goes out which
can be weeks or months after you’ve
filmed but it’s very much about when
you’re doing the filming or TV work or the
film work – it’s about creating a moment
and seeing the playback – seeing that on
screen and creating that small moment
and moving on.
“It’s much more organic doing the whole
show on stage as it’s the beginning,
middle and end and then you stand there
and hopefully the audience are cheering
and then clapping and that’s your reward
right there – whereas it’s much more
fragmented with TV and film. You can
watch back your performance and then
it’s all edited and cut back when you
actually watch the episode or film.
“I love the Theatre Royal in Brighton –
it’s fantastic, it’s intimate as well, which is
lovely. It’s definitely right up there for me.
House for a number of years. When I
first visited the hospice, I was blown
away by what a fantastic atmosphere
they have there. The warmth, the caring
– it’s so, not clinical, you know? That
was something I was expecting it to be
and it’s not – it’s so warm it feels like
someone’s home and the facilities are
fantastic. What they do is amazing and
it just changes people’s lives. It gives
respite care for these families – it’s such
a difficult life for them, for the kids and
the families but to get that day, week
or number of hours just to rest. These
parents know their children are safe and
that they’re in safe hands. The parents
can talk to people who understand
what they’re going through and not
many people understand what it’s like
to have a child with a life-limiting or
life-threatening disease like that. There
aren’t many who can understand what
that’s like on a daily basis.
“These kids inspire me when I meet
them, they’re all fantastic. I’m honoured
to be on board.”
By Liza Laws
“I love Sussex too and I’ve been a patron
of children’s hospice, Chestnut Tree
15