When you auditioned for the role of Julie J you dressed in character to convince them you could do it, because it would have been cast against type for you, wouldn't it?
Yes, they wouldn't see me initially. The head of the agency said “Oh, they won't see you for that”, but the girl who was later to become my agent was right behind me. Fortunately, I used to have my own theatre company and I'd done a three-hander with a really good soliloquy as a girl who was like Julie J and someone had filmed that. So I said, send the video in and if they won't see me after that, well okay. So, they saw the video and then they had me in. I went in and I never changed my accent all through the short-listing, until I'd signed the contract, so as far as they were concerned I had a south east London accent! That's the thing about telly, you see. Once you've proved yourself you're all right, but unless you're a celebrity you won't get cast as anything other than the person they see and know you as. I'd been in Darling Buds of May and had played a very upper class lady – very, very different.
So what was it that attracted you to the role of Julie?
Well, it was a job and I wanted to do it!! It sounded great because it was all women and we never get that many women all on screen at any one time, do we? When I had my theatre company it was for women mostly – I'm not a separatist, but it was set up to promote women in the business. I'm basically feathering my own nest because I'm a woman and I need to get work!
Did you audition with Victoria Alcock?
Only when we were short-listed. Obviously they had a lot of people going in, then they whittled them down to, I think, six of us. So when I turned up again she was there and you had to go in with each person and swap the roles. I actually went in as Vicky's character – I'd always played very dominant people so it was a really good chance for me to play someone very different. We were the last pairing to go in and I think they'd made their minds up before we got home. It had to have a chemistry and it just did for some reason.
It's very rare for two characters in a series to be in most of their scenes together, unless it's a marriage or relationship. So, it had to work between you, didn't it?
Yes, absolutely. Ultimately, Vicky and I would always laugh a lot together. I said to her just the other day, what I don't understand is why people don't play – I like playing! And Vicky was a good person to play with.
As Bad Girls progressed, although it could be grisly, I think it got a bit light and a bit camper, didn't it? As someone there from the beginning, did you notice a change in the tone as things went on?
Yes, I did. Obviously in the beginning there are loads of things you can explore, but I think there does come a point when you think how much more can you explore? But then, if it is character-led you watch the character develop and change as opposed to following the storylines too much. You have people like Natalie Buxton and Jim Fenner and I think people were watching to see what they would do next, rather than thinking what was the next plot line.
Did you prefer doing comedy or the more dramatic scenes?
To be honest, doing the cancer storyline was really important for all sorts of reasons, not just from the acting side. It was also a good opportunity for the two Julies to become really serious so you could see the connection between them. But it was heartbreaking to do that because I knew some of those lines were real because it was Chad's [Maureen Chadwick, the writer] sister. She lost her sister to breast cancer and she wrote it because her sister said “write this for me, I want people to know what happened to me.” It was deeply, deeply distressing and I remember rehearsing and breaking down because I knew those were words they must have said to one another. It was very distressing but also extremely important because I know her sister wanted it done. Of all the TV series that have covered breast cancer this had the biggest response and a wonderful knock on effect, with people finding help and support.
How did you feel when you heard that Julie would go mad and kill Fenner?
I was delighted! It was a great opportunity to be the one to kill Fenner! I'd never done horror before, like the Christmas special. When I had to imagine I was seeing things, you really do get caught up in that – well, you've got to feel these things or it doesn't work.
I think it was a surprise for the viewers that it was Julie that did it.
Yes, I do like the fact that [the producers] always went for the thing that you didn't expect. That's what was so great about Bad Girls, it was never predictable.
Were you and the rest of the cast and crew surprised when you heard it wasn't coming back?
I think we were surprised that ITV had dropped it when we got the demographic each time. Advertising had gone down anyway, for everybody. On top of which they always put us out in the summer, usually against the World Cup so what did they honestly expect? But, we held our own and it's puzzling to me, I don't know why you get rid of a successful series. For us, it had become a way of life, after eight years. Everyone was very sad because we all got on so well. It was a wonderful group of women of all different ages and a fantastic crew. It would have been easier if we'd had a final series so we could all have said goodbye and put it to rest.
So what's next?
We're playing, me, Vicky Alcock andd Vicky Bush, some dance numbers in gay clubs up and down the country – so if anyone would like to book us, there are a couple of numbers we thought we'd do together!
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