Wednesday 12 December 2007
Sheridan attends Dealer's Choice
Sheridan attended the after show party on press night for Dealer's Choice at the Empire Casino, London on 11th December 2007. Pictured with Caroline Humphris and Jeremy Edwards.
Thursday 6 December 2007
Sheridan attends British Comedy Awards
Sheridan attended the British Comedy Awards 2007 on December 5, 2007 at London Television Studios London. Pictured with James Corden.
Thursday 13 September 2007
Sheridan attends Bad Girls The Musical
Sheridan attended the after party on press night for Bad Girls - The Musical at Sugar Reef, London on 13th September 2007.
Monday 10 September 2007
Sheridan attends In The Hands of the Gods Premiere
Sheridan attended the premiere of In the Hands of the Gods at the Odean Cinema, Leicester Square, London on September 10, 2007 with James Corden.
Saturday 8 September 2007
Monday 21 May 2007
The Stage (21 May 2007)
Grown-up ambitions
Sheridan Smith is a familiar face on TV after her roles in hit series such as Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, but she has also been receiving rave reviews on stage, writes Nick Smurthwaite.
So how did a girl who grew up in a village outside Doncaster come to be called Sheridan? "I think because my surname is Smith, my parents thought they'd better give me an unusual first name, something people would remember," the actress explains with a giggle. "Of course it gets abbreviated to Sherry and Shezza by my friends."
In the north of England, Smith's mum and dad are extremely well known in their own right, performing as a country and western singing duo called the Daltons. "When I was little they used to let me go on stage with them sometimes, wearing a little cowboy hat. I always loved being on stage, even though I was never a proper part of the act."
At school, Sheridan Smith was an okay student, despite spending a lot of time "messing about and getting sent out of class". What she really enjoyed was the drama lessons, and invariably found herself cast in the lead in home-grown musical extravaganzas.
It was her drama teacher, Mr Sowerby, who suggested she audition for the National Youth Music Theatre, which is based in London, but holds regional auditions every year. At 13, she travelled to New York with the company to appear in the musical Pendragon. "It was fantastic because I'd never even been on a plane before. I was coming out of the lift one day in my hotel and I saw my mum and dad walking across the foyer. They'd saved up all their money to come and see me, even though I only had a tiny part."
A year later, she was cast as Tallulah - the role played by Jodie Foster in the film - in a stage version of the spoof gangster musical Bugsy Malone, which proved to be a turning point in what was to become her showbiz career. To everyone's amazement, Jeremy James Taylor, the man who ran NYMT, managed to persuade Alan Parker, who famously dislikes the theatre, to let them produce the show in the West End.
At 16, Smith found herself starring in a musical at the Queen's Theatre. "I was so anxious not to let anyone down and to be as professional as I could be. But that didn't mean it wasn't a lot of fun. I came down to London on my own and shared a flat with five other 16-year-olds from the show. Can you imagine? We lived on jam sandwiches and, during the day, we did what we liked.
"I was only being paid the Equity minimum but it seemed like a fortune at the time. I was used to getting pocket money from my mum for doing odd jobs around the house."
As a result of her stand-out performance in Bugsy Malone, favourably reviewed by all the national theatre critics, Smith had no difficulty getting an agent and was snapped up to play Little Red Riding Hood in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods at the Donmar Warehouse in 1998.
"Into the woods was one of my all time favourite jobs, partly because it is such a great show and partly because I was sharing a dressing room with 11 other actresses, including Sophie Thompson, Jenna Russell and Dilys Laye. The age range was about 17 to 70. I was the youngest, of course. We had so much fun and I learnt so much about the profession from them."
Because she has never been to drama school, Smith has had to learn as she's gone along. "The people I've worked with have been so helpful and generous, giving me loads of useful advice and support. I've watched every single person I've worked with like a hawk, picking up tricks and tips. In some ways I'd like to have done the drama school thing, but friends of mine who went have had mixed reactions. Some really loved it, others hated the whole experience."
Does she think not going to drama school has spurred her on to succeed? "I just think I've been incredibly lucky," she says. "I keep thinking every job will be my last because there are so many talented people out there. I'm not at all aggressive about getting work. I leave all that to my agent. I'd be embarrassed about pushing for a particular job. I'm a total wimp when it comes to pushing myself forward."
This wimp image is at odds with the sharp, assertive types she has played on TV - as Janet in six series of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Cleo in Love Soup, and most recently, Michelle in Grownups. Unlike a lot of actors, she's a stranger to unemployment benefit.
Smith's TV break was in The Royle Family, playing Anthony's girlfriend, Emma. Anthony was played by Ralf Little, who also plays her boyfriend in Two Pints of Lager "When I got the part in Two Pints, it was really nice that I already knew Ralf because it is nerve-wracking when you start any new job. I'm always terrified on the first day.
"I've been doing Two Pints since I was 18, so I've kind of grown up with the show, and with the other four. And the fans are amazing. They come and sit in the front row of the studio audience. I've got to know a lot of them. The BBC keeps saying they're not going to do any more, then they get all these letters saying, 'Bring it back', so it just goes on and on.
"I get lovely fan letters, and I'm rubbish at replying. I get my mum to help me out. One of the fans, Sarah, has set up my personal website. I'm so touched that they'd go to all that trouble for little me. I'm so computer illiterate I didn't even know how to find it on the internet!"
In Little Shop of Horrors, she plays Audrey, a voluptuous airhead who dreams of an all-American life on a suburban housing estate. Paul Vale, reviewing for The Stage, wrote: "This young actress has impeccable timing and a winsome appeal that fills the auditorium... in a season dominated by leading ladies, Sheridan Smith leads the way."
"As a kid I always loved the film," she says, "and I always wanted to play Audrey. I have some great songs by Alan Menken, who wrote the music for a lot of the Disney musicals. We did a special performance at a gay club in the West End one Sunday evening and I was determined to treat it like a normal show, but as soon as we started singing Suddenly Seymour there was this sea of screaming gay men, so I started passing the mic round so they could join in."
Smith went into rehearsals for Little Shop of Horrors last autumn, almost as soon as she had finished playing two Shakespeare roles at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre over the summer. She was Bianca in Taming of the Shrew and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"I hadn't done any Shakespeare since school, so I'd never been so nervous in my life. I really didn't have a clue, and we were rehearsing both shows at the same time, so I kept thinking I'd get my lines and my characters all mixed up. But the two directors, Ian Talbot and Rachel Kavanaugh, made it so much fun that I soon became more relaxed. once you start to realise what it all means, it's like doing any other play."
Smith's career so far appears seamless, one plum job after another, giving her the kind of experience most actors of her age can only dream of. If it all suddenly ended tomorrow, she says she would probably go home to mum and dad.
"It's a mad lifestyle and it's easy to get carried away by it, so I think it's important to stay close to your loved ones. I don't really enjoy schmoozy showbiz parties. I come over all shy. I feel more comfortable being with my mates down the pub, or having a takeaway pizza at home, watching a video."
Such is the demand for her talents, she doesn't get a lot of time for a private life right now. In addition to Little Shop of Horrors, she has been filming two TV sitcoms back to back - a second series of David Renwick's quirky Love Soup, and BBC3's Grownups. She says she gets by on four hours' sleep and adrenalin.
"I don't have any big hopes or dreams. I'm just enjoying myself while it lasts, and I know that my parents are there for me if and when it all stops. My mum prefers me doing theatre to TV so she can bring a bus party down from the village. My friends call them the SAS - the Sheridan Appreciation Society. She brought 50 kids down from the school where she is a learning support teacher, and afterwards I had to sign autographs for all of them.
"I don't know what I'll do when it finishes in September, I'm loving it so much. I'll probably never work again."
Sheridan Smith is a familiar face on TV after her roles in hit series such as Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, but she has also been receiving rave reviews on stage, writes Nick Smurthwaite.
So how did a girl who grew up in a village outside Doncaster come to be called Sheridan? "I think because my surname is Smith, my parents thought they'd better give me an unusual first name, something people would remember," the actress explains with a giggle. "Of course it gets abbreviated to Sherry and Shezza by my friends."
In the north of England, Smith's mum and dad are extremely well known in their own right, performing as a country and western singing duo called the Daltons. "When I was little they used to let me go on stage with them sometimes, wearing a little cowboy hat. I always loved being on stage, even though I was never a proper part of the act."
At school, Sheridan Smith was an okay student, despite spending a lot of time "messing about and getting sent out of class". What she really enjoyed was the drama lessons, and invariably found herself cast in the lead in home-grown musical extravaganzas.
It was her drama teacher, Mr Sowerby, who suggested she audition for the National Youth Music Theatre, which is based in London, but holds regional auditions every year. At 13, she travelled to New York with the company to appear in the musical Pendragon. "It was fantastic because I'd never even been on a plane before. I was coming out of the lift one day in my hotel and I saw my mum and dad walking across the foyer. They'd saved up all their money to come and see me, even though I only had a tiny part."
A year later, she was cast as Tallulah - the role played by Jodie Foster in the film - in a stage version of the spoof gangster musical Bugsy Malone, which proved to be a turning point in what was to become her showbiz career. To everyone's amazement, Jeremy James Taylor, the man who ran NYMT, managed to persuade Alan Parker, who famously dislikes the theatre, to let them produce the show in the West End.
At 16, Smith found herself starring in a musical at the Queen's Theatre. "I was so anxious not to let anyone down and to be as professional as I could be. But that didn't mean it wasn't a lot of fun. I came down to London on my own and shared a flat with five other 16-year-olds from the show. Can you imagine? We lived on jam sandwiches and, during the day, we did what we liked.
"I was only being paid the Equity minimum but it seemed like a fortune at the time. I was used to getting pocket money from my mum for doing odd jobs around the house."
As a result of her stand-out performance in Bugsy Malone, favourably reviewed by all the national theatre critics, Smith had no difficulty getting an agent and was snapped up to play Little Red Riding Hood in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods at the Donmar Warehouse in 1998.
"Into the woods was one of my all time favourite jobs, partly because it is such a great show and partly because I was sharing a dressing room with 11 other actresses, including Sophie Thompson, Jenna Russell and Dilys Laye. The age range was about 17 to 70. I was the youngest, of course. We had so much fun and I learnt so much about the profession from them."
Because she has never been to drama school, Smith has had to learn as she's gone along. "The people I've worked with have been so helpful and generous, giving me loads of useful advice and support. I've watched every single person I've worked with like a hawk, picking up tricks and tips. In some ways I'd like to have done the drama school thing, but friends of mine who went have had mixed reactions. Some really loved it, others hated the whole experience."
Does she think not going to drama school has spurred her on to succeed? "I just think I've been incredibly lucky," she says. "I keep thinking every job will be my last because there are so many talented people out there. I'm not at all aggressive about getting work. I leave all that to my agent. I'd be embarrassed about pushing for a particular job. I'm a total wimp when it comes to pushing myself forward."
This wimp image is at odds with the sharp, assertive types she has played on TV - as Janet in six series of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Cleo in Love Soup, and most recently, Michelle in Grownups. Unlike a lot of actors, she's a stranger to unemployment benefit.
Smith's TV break was in The Royle Family, playing Anthony's girlfriend, Emma. Anthony was played by Ralf Little, who also plays her boyfriend in Two Pints of Lager "When I got the part in Two Pints, it was really nice that I already knew Ralf because it is nerve-wracking when you start any new job. I'm always terrified on the first day.
"I've been doing Two Pints since I was 18, so I've kind of grown up with the show, and with the other four. And the fans are amazing. They come and sit in the front row of the studio audience. I've got to know a lot of them. The BBC keeps saying they're not going to do any more, then they get all these letters saying, 'Bring it back', so it just goes on and on.
"I get lovely fan letters, and I'm rubbish at replying. I get my mum to help me out. One of the fans, Sarah, has set up my personal website. I'm so touched that they'd go to all that trouble for little me. I'm so computer illiterate I didn't even know how to find it on the internet!"
In Little Shop of Horrors, she plays Audrey, a voluptuous airhead who dreams of an all-American life on a suburban housing estate. Paul Vale, reviewing for The Stage, wrote: "This young actress has impeccable timing and a winsome appeal that fills the auditorium... in a season dominated by leading ladies, Sheridan Smith leads the way."
"As a kid I always loved the film," she says, "and I always wanted to play Audrey. I have some great songs by Alan Menken, who wrote the music for a lot of the Disney musicals. We did a special performance at a gay club in the West End one Sunday evening and I was determined to treat it like a normal show, but as soon as we started singing Suddenly Seymour there was this sea of screaming gay men, so I started passing the mic round so they could join in."
Smith went into rehearsals for Little Shop of Horrors last autumn, almost as soon as she had finished playing two Shakespeare roles at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre over the summer. She was Bianca in Taming of the Shrew and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"I hadn't done any Shakespeare since school, so I'd never been so nervous in my life. I really didn't have a clue, and we were rehearsing both shows at the same time, so I kept thinking I'd get my lines and my characters all mixed up. But the two directors, Ian Talbot and Rachel Kavanaugh, made it so much fun that I soon became more relaxed. once you start to realise what it all means, it's like doing any other play."
Smith's career so far appears seamless, one plum job after another, giving her the kind of experience most actors of her age can only dream of. If it all suddenly ended tomorrow, she says she would probably go home to mum and dad.
"It's a mad lifestyle and it's easy to get carried away by it, so I think it's important to stay close to your loved ones. I don't really enjoy schmoozy showbiz parties. I come over all shy. I feel more comfortable being with my mates down the pub, or having a takeaway pizza at home, watching a video."
Such is the demand for her talents, she doesn't get a lot of time for a private life right now. In addition to Little Shop of Horrors, she has been filming two TV sitcoms back to back - a second series of David Renwick's quirky Love Soup, and BBC3's Grownups. She says she gets by on four hours' sleep and adrenalin.
"I don't have any big hopes or dreams. I'm just enjoying myself while it lasts, and I know that my parents are there for me if and when it all stops. My mum prefers me doing theatre to TV so she can bring a bus party down from the village. My friends call them the SAS - the Sheridan Appreciation Society. She brought 50 kids down from the school where she is a learning support teacher, and afterwards I had to sign autographs for all of them.
"I don't know what I'll do when it finishes in September, I'm loving it so much. I'll probably never work again."
Tuesday 13 March 2007
Little Shop of Horrors Press Night
Sheridan attended the after party on press night of Little Shop of Horrors at the National Gallery Cafe, London on 12th March 2007. Pictured with Little Shop co-star Paul Keating, Holby City star Jeremy Edwards, Two Pints co-stars Will Mellor, Natalie Casey and Kathryn Drysdale.
Saturday 10 March 2007
Little Shop of Horrors Photocall
Photocall for West End musical 'Little Shop Of Horrors' at the Duke of York's Theatre on March 09, 2007.
Monday 19 February 2007
Sheridan attends Laurence Olivier Awards
Sheridan attended the Laurence Olivier Awards at Grosvenor House Hotel, London on February 18th 2007. Sheridan is pictured with Patrick Barlow with his award for Best New Comedy and Mike McShane.
Tuesday 6 February 2007
Sheridan Smith: The Miller's Tale
Martha Jones isn't the only new arrival in the TARDIS this year. As Lucie Miller, Sheridan Smith has recently joined Paul McGann for a series of all-new Doctor Who adventures on BBC7.Best known for her starring role in the BBC3 sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Smith is currently playing Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Chocolate Factory theatre in London. Paul Simpson spoke to her backstage, ahead of a transfer to the West End next month.
Do you enjoy sci fi, or is it just coincidence that you're in both Doctor Who and Little Shop of Horrors right now?
It is coincidence, but I really do enjoy it. Doctor Who’s companion is such a dream part, and Audrey [in Little Shop of Horrors] is another dream part. I'm having a ball!
How did you get the role of Lucie in Doctor Who?
I know Jason Haigh-Ellery, who’s producing them, and he said they were getting a load of girls to come in to audition for Paul McGann’s new sidekick. So I went along, and they did recalls, and I got it.
When they told me, I was so thrilled. I worked with Paul McGann about six years ago on a thing called Blood Strangers, which was a two-part ITV drama with Caroline Quentin. I was thrilled on the first day when he actually remembered me. He’s such a nice man to work with, and a really brilliant actor.
What was the recording experience like?
It was so great compared to telly. You don’t have to sit in make up or learn your lines! It was so much fun. We did it for two weeks, if that. We’d come in, go straight to our booths and record it all.
Lucie is a really fun part to play. She’s a brash Northerner to contrast with Paul McGann’s very suave Doctor. She rattles and unnerves him a bit at first, then gradually they become fond of each other.
I had fun working with Paul, getting our relationship bouncing off each other. And Big Finish is such a nice company to work for. They really welcomed me into the family.
Are there more adventures for the Doctor and Lucie on the way?
Hopefully. They’re talking about doing more. I’d love to be part of them – I’d be honoured, because it was such a nice job to do. If they’d have me, I’d love to come back as Lucie, but we’ll see.
How did you get involved with Little Shop of Horrors?
I was chatting with a friend about it, and I said I’d love to play Audrey – it’s such a dream part. Lo and behold, by sheer coincidence, I got a call from my agent a week later, saying that the Chocolate Factory would like me to audition for Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors!
I couldn’t believe it. I love the Chocolate Factory. I’d heard so much good stuff about it anyway, but I never thought I’d get the part in a million years, as I haven’t sung for so long. I was absolutely thrilled when I got it. I’m really enjoying every minute of it.
With Audrey, the danger is that people tend to camp it up and not make her a real person. But it’s a really sad story, that’s she beaten up. We’ve tried to make this a show of real heart, rather than camping it up. It is a talking plant at the end of the day. It’s a silly story, but it’s a really sweet story.
You're about to move to the West End. What differences do you expect, going from a studio theatre to the Duke of York’s?
The intimacy of the Chocolate Factory is great. The audience is so close that you feel you’re really part of it. The Duke of York is a step up from this, but isn’t that big. You’re still close to the audience and people can still see your faces. It’s not like a massive arena where you don’t feel you can connect with the characters.
It’ll be a different set, too, and there’s new cast coming in, including Alistair McGowan. That will keep everything fresh. But it’ll still be the same fun show, and I can’t wait!
How long is the West End run?
Everyone’s signed for six months. Whether that will be it, who knows? We’re all thrilled that we’re going to get another run at it in a new theatre.
What’s next for you?
I’m filming a second series of Love Soup, which I did last year, and a second series of Grown Ups for BBC3. I’ll be doing those during the day, and the show at night, so it’ll be full on! But I can’t complain. I love work, and I’m very lucky to be doing these roles.
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