Coronation Street!
At this time I was going through a bit of a bad time. My love life was in a mess and I was very down about everything.
Then, one beautiful sunny afternoon the phone rang. I rushed in from the garden and answered.
"Hi, I am the casting agent from Coronation Street I am sorry for phoning you straight through would you be interested in doing 3-4 episodes as a character called Shirelle?" (Shirelle I found out later was a nickname for the gay guy that worked in the offices at Cora).
By this point I was sweating profusely and trying to gesture to my friend what the phone call was about. Of course I told her I would have to think about it - NOT!
The following week, I hopped on the train from Brighton (big mistake!) with a friend who was helping me out with my work at the time. I'm not sure if I actually said a word during the whole journey - I was so nervous.
Once we got to the studios in Manchester, excitement kicked in. I met the casting lady June West and as, I was going in to meet the director and producer, I also met another guy who was also auditioning for my part. Once we got inside the office they told me they were considering me for the part after seeing Beautiful Thing. We read through the script and then I left - all that way for 20 minutes!
On the way back on the train we were like excited children. The woman opposite us caught our excitement and started giggling even though she didn’t know why we were in such high spirits. We ordered a drink from the trolley and then my mobile rang. It was June (from casting) offering me the part - but only if I agreed to dye my hair back to its normal colour! I just said "oh, thank you" and put the phone down. I then ran up and down the carriage until my phone rang - it was June again. She asked if I was alright as she didn't think I had sounded very happy about the news and she was a bit worried. I told her I was absolutely ecstatic, but very shocked.
The contract arrived within a week with Top Secret scripts. I had to meet a researcher at a top and very posh hairdressers in the West End where they cut and dyed my hair. She was supposed to take me shopping to get a suit for the straight scenes but I convinced her that I could wear my own and also wear my own dresses. What an idiot! I have learned since then to keep my mouth shut!
The day before filming started, I flew up to Manchester as it is a lot easier and quicker than the train. I was given pocket money for everything: flights, hotel etc.
The first day was a run through where the cast and crew meet and go through the scenes. It wasn’t until I walked through the gates at Granada Television Studios and into the green room that it actually hit me where I was. Nerves completely took over and the guy that plays Norris had to help me with the coffee machine! So I thought I would have a fag and calm down and he pointed the way to the smoking room. It was empty apart from one lady sitting alone smoking.
There was a one way window so that we could see out into the street but you couldn’t see inside. I was so relieved to be in a quiet room with just this one lady in it that I started waffling on about how nervous I was and how exciting it was to be here. As I was chatting I suddenly realised I was actually talking to the legend that is Anne Kirkbride (aka Deirdre Barlow). She didn’t have her glasses on and I hadn’t recognised her! She immediately made me feel at ease by telling me some stories of her first day.
It was my first filming day and I arrived at the studio at 7pm and went straight into makeup and met Roy Barroclough. The first scene I was filming was in a nightclub run and owned by Foo Foo Lamar. it was called Shirelles in the programme and the scene was a karaoke night involving Roy, Angela Griffin and Tracey Shaw amongst others. It was not a hard scene to do as it really was what I would do anyway (except for having to stick to the script!)
The hardest scene to do took place the next day as it was out of drag and actually on the Coronation Street set. I had to play the guy straight and villainous - I could actually feel my knees shaking as I was being filmed!
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and everyone was delightful. It can be scary working with people who have been working together for years, but they treated me as one of them and it is something I will never forget.
I just wish I had known as much about working on television as I do now as I probably would have had a bit more input. However, I don’t regret a single moment of it.
Entry written: Saturday, February 17, 2007