“Susan is quite an integral character really - she’s the main reason why all the problems happen. When Mark, Daniel and Susan were younger they were very close. They were like the three musketeers. However, as they got older Daniel and Mark naturally developed feelings for Susan. Daniel’s a lot more laid back and so treated her more like a friend while not realising his true feelings, whereas Mark acted on his straight away. Unfortunately Susan doesn’t think Daniel would ever want to be with her, so she marries Mark and has an affair with Daniel, the consequences of which are catastrophic.
“The amount of times Susan says “I can’t talk about it, it’s complicated” is just so frustrating. You want to scream “be true to yourself woman - get some backbone”. But she’s been moulded into something over the years, subtly controlled to the point that she’s almost forgotten who she is and has accepted that life is a massive compromise. Susan is really the most co-dependant person you could ever meet. She is only fuelled by other people or situations. She’s got this passion in her for Daniel that she just cannot turn off, however much she tries. She feels so guilty about everything, the woman is riddled with guilt. The other sad thing is that Mark really does love her. He is controlling - he has come from nothing and has become like the Godfather of the area but he can’t help himself. He can’t bear to lose her.
“There is a fantastic scene when Susan finally has the permission she’s been looking for to make herself feel better about the fact she’s in love with someone else. It’s all done in one shot and we didn’t have one aeroplane go over it - it just felt like magic. Before we knew it they said ‘cut’ that’s when you know you’ve got it. We were in a different zone. It was so lovely to be given that sort of freedom of acting in a TV show: to almost do a theatre piece, with no cuts, no changes of shots, just pages and pages of dialogue.
“At the end of the series Susan finally says ”I’m not going to feel guilty for wanting to be true to myself – I want to be the woman I was before I became the mother and wife”. I’d love her to be true to herself if we went to a second series, to become a different woman to the point where the kids are a bit freaked out. That would be really good fun - almost like having a mid-life crisis.
“What attracted me to the role is that I’ve never played an older character before. In the show I have grown up kids - in real life I’d have been 10 years old when I had them. Jason has two teenagers as well and said “I can’t believe they’re meant to be my kids - I still feel like them” and I’d say “well how do you think I feel”. When I was first brought in to discuss the part, I said “the only thing I’m concerned about is that I don’t look old enough - I’ve got quite ‘cheeky’ cheeks and a girlie face”, which sounds like it’s a real benefit, but obviously not in this case. But they said that, at the end of the day, it’s a heightened reality and even the harassed mothers are supposed look fabulous. And they can always make some tongue in cheek reference to my age in Moving Wallpaper. Boundaries are being pushed and the public will know that and be in on the game.
“People are so media savvy now. I think it’s great because you’ve got a show for the cynics of Echo Beach: everything is answered and there is nothing people can say that’s not already been said in Moving Wallpaper. It’s also great that we as actors send ourselves up - at first I thought that was quite a dangerous concept because I’m going to be ‘Martine McCutcheon’ but not saying my own words. It’s almost like having an alter-ego. All the things you’d like to be able to have a laugh with as ‘Martine’ could be completely misconstrued, but you get to be another ‘Martine’ in Moving Wallpaper, which was brilliant fun. I loved appearing in Moving Wallpaper - my only gripe was you have double the workload. Just as you think “oh brilliant I’ve got the day off” the Moving Wallpaper producer would say “oh by the way - you’re in the back of shot looking at your fan mail. It’s the first shot of the day: a five o’ clock pick up!” But you’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself. You’ve got so little control about what is said about you that if you didn’t have a great sense of humour, you’d be in trouble. As an actress I’ve never been under any illusion – you are in a bit of a meat market. You are a product.
“I think it’s funny when people think Moving Wallpaper ‘can’t be true’. I think it’s amazingly accurate. There are things behind the scenes of television that are shocking. When it comes to money and the media, they are absolutely ruthless. They will do whatever it takes to make it work. You meet people in production with massive egos and you think “it should be the other way round – you should be an actor!” I think Moving Wallpaper is so credible - it’s the ‘cool’ show whereas Echo Beach is the glamour, and a chance to go on an emotional journey with the characters. I feel really excited about the two shows. What I love is that everybody involved is taking a huge leap of faith because they believe in it. And we were the ones that believed in it first, so if it does take off, we will be so blessed as actors that we’ve got this gig.
“I also thought it would be a real challenge to play someone different - I always play somebody the public absolutely love straight away. They’re always very friendly, very cheeky and wear their heart on their sleeve. To have something simmering under the surface was a different challenge for me. I also liked the idea of working with Jason. I’ve always really adored and admired him. And I was really thrilled that Tony Jordan was writing for Susan because he wrote all my Tiffany stuff (in EastEnders). He said he had been bearing me in mind when he wrote this ten years ago. It’s so human, the way Tony writes. I think very few writers actually say the words they are writing but it’s almost like Tony must speak it as well as write it. It felt like I’d come home, and yet with a completely different character. Susan and Tiffany couldn’t get more different. Tiffany was so fiery and a little minx. She wore her heart on her sleeve and would be passionately in love to the point where she would just screw up everything. Susan is the complete opposite to that.
“I’ve loved working in Cornwall. It’s so beautiful - it’s the land of the beautiful people. You go down onto the beach and see all these surfer dudes and girls and they are all gorgeous, with a beach tan and their hair all sun-kissed. The people were lovely and they took to us invading their home very kindly. They were very generous about getting out of the way of the cameras. I think they know that ultimately it will be really good for Cornwall. The weather let us down though - we were all there shivering and trying to make it look like we were in Barbados. People think “what the hell are you moaning about - you are such a drama queen” but Jason’s nose was pink! We all had colds and flu because it was so cold! There was certainly no chance of me surfing while I was there - I can’t even go underwater without holding my nose. I like the idea of surfing, the board, the outfit and the hair, but in reality I’d be useless.
“It is odd for me because I’m not quite as old as Hugo and Jason and I’m not as young as the young ones, so I’ve got my feet in both sides. I seem to be the one the younger ones come to for advice. I think they still see me as accessible and understand where they are at, but I’m grown up enough to get it right. I get told all the secrets, and I just think “oh my god if you knew what the other one has just told me there would be murders!” I’ve learnt to just keep it zipped, to listen and give the advice as delicately as I can. I should be some sort of life coach now! The kids all had a great time and they were all looked after by us. Although Jason and I were on a mission one Saturday night in Cornwall to let our hair down and show them we can still cut it. We’re really sad it’s come to an end. It’s been like the most amazing holiday romance.”
Image and text © ITV1
