You could never accuse Sheridan Smith of being backward in coming forward. “Because I’ve always played chavs and slappers, I wasn’t quite used to being an intelligent, bright young girl,” she smiles.
The Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps actress is talking about her latest role as Joey Ross in Jonathan Creek (BBC1, New Year’s Day, 9pm). Fresh from appearing as Cinderella Doe in the recently screened Christmas special of Lark Rise To Candleford, she plays a young woman who doesn’t believe in the paranormal.
Lincolnshire-born Sheridan first heard about the Creek part, co-starring with Alan Davies, at a cast screening for the final series of Love Soup, in which she played perfume counter girl Cleo. That was written by David Renwick, as is Creek. “It was at the screening that David’s wife said to him, ‘Go on, ask her.’ And he went, ‘No, no, not yet, because I haven’t written it.’
“She then said, ‘Well, I’m going to…will you do Jonathan Creek?’ I started screaming and going, ‘Yes, please, yes, please. I’d love it.’ He emailed me when he finished the script and wrote, ‘I meant what I said.’ And then when I read it, you can tell he’s written it with a northern accent, you can hear me saying it.
“When we’ve worked together for two years on Love Soup, he kind of knew how I’d say things. So he’s really written this feisty little northern character. I was absolutely honoured because he’s a brilliant writer.
“On other jobs they’re writing it as you go along and you get script changes on the day. Whereas David so knows what he wants. And when you read it, it’s so conversational and so easy to learn, right down to the dot, or comma. I’d got used to that style on Love Soup and just loved it.”
She adds: “The bits I found the hardest – there’s a knack to detective talk, I’ve noticed. You slow down, and then speed up at the end. I kept watching Alan and going, ‘I can’t do this figuring out talk.’ But I learned from the master.”
One of the early scenes sees Joey and a female friend stranded in a forest on the way to a party. “That was a night shoot and I was having to change a car tyre. We had a big rain machine, so for seven hours I was soaked through in a mini skirt in the middle of a wood somewhere.”
Sheridan is also back on Jan 13 as Michelle in a new series of BBC3’s Manchester-set twentysomething sitcom Grownups. She’s filming series eight of Two Pints, which is likely to be the last. “Now all the characters have slept together, I don’t think that will be going on much longer.”
And news is still awaited of a possible BBC remake of classic American TV comedy turned big screen film Bewitched, with Sheridan in the lead role of Samantha. “We did a pilot in February, so I’ve still got everything crossed.”
Having seen her on screen, people often feel they know Sheridan when they spot her in the street. “And because I play kind of northern, friendly characters, they always come and sit next to me and have a chat. It’s great.
“Loads of young girls recognised me when we were filming Creek in south London. I had to sign someone’s arm.” As is the way with TV fame, the non-QI-watching youngsters didn’t know who Alan was.
Earlier this year Sheridan appeared on the front cover of Dogs Today magazine with the headline: Two Pints Of Lager And A Pack Of Dogs. “I’ve got four dogs. They’re called Lily, Enid, Barry and Trish. You can see now why I don’t play intelligent characters,” she laughs.
“Luckily I’ve got three housemates, who live in the flat above me, so between us they help when I’m away. I’m a bit rubbish on my own, so it’s nice. That’s like my London family, and then my mum and dad are up north.”
Joey helps Creek solve a puzzle which many believe to be down to the paranormal. Does Sheridan believe in such things off screen? “I don’t know. I never say never but I am a bit sceptical. I like to watch Most Haunted but from the comfort of my home with the dogs.”
Tuesday 30 December 2008
Jonathan Creek: Sheridan Smith
SHERIDAN Smith revealed a few behind the scenes secrets when I met her earlier this year. She stars in the New Year’s Day return to BBC1 of Jonathan Creek. And is back as Michelle in BBC3 Manchester-set sitcom Grownups from Jan 13. As a huge Creek fan, Sheridan was delighted to land the role of Joey Ross. It was written for her by David Renwick. He also wrote Love Soup, in which Sheridan played a perfume counter girl. TV legend Verity Lambert was the producer behind both Jonathan Creek and Love Soup. She was Doctor Who’s first producer in 1963.Then went on to create and produce some of television’s landmark programmes before her death in November 2007 at the age of 71. The second – and final – series of BBC1’s Love Soup was filmed in 2007 and completed just before Verity’s death. It starred Tamsin Greig as Alice, as well as Montserrat Lombard as Milly and Sheridan as Cleo.
“We had too much fun on that job,” Sheridan told me. “Verity Lambert used to bribe us with chocolate, if we could get through a scene without laughing. “Tamsin Greig was the worst. “And make-up used to go mad at us because we’d have tears streaming. Before they said ‘action’ we’d gone. Tamsin is the naughtiest, funniest and brilliant woman to work with.”
One of Sheridan’s housemates works in Selfridges. “Obviously Cleo and the characters in Love Soup were always gossiping about last night’s fella. And she said it’s actually like that. So David gets it quite right.”
Not surprising, really – as his wife Ellie used to work as a perfumery account manager in a large department store.
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Sheridan attends Glamour-oke Gets Festive
Sheridan attended the Glamour-oke Gets Festive event, held at MAYA in Soho, London on December 16, 2008. Pictured with Two Pints of Lager co-stars Will Mellor and Kathryn Drysdale.
Sunday 7 December 2008
Sheridan attends British Comedy Awards
Sheridan Smith attended the British Comedy Awards 2008 at the London Television Studios on December 6, 2008. Pictured with James Corden.
Friday 28 November 2008
Monday 17 November 2008
Sheridan attends The 56th Annual Variety Club Showbiz Awards
Sheridan attended The 56th Annual Variety Club Showbiz Awards in London on 16th November 2008.
Friday 24 October 2008
Sheridan attends Blowing Whistles
Sheridan attended the after show party on press night for Blowing Whistles at the Leicester Square Theatre, London on the 23rd October 2008. Pictured with Paul Keating, Daniel Finn and Stuart Laing.
Wednesday 15 October 2008
After Show Party for Betwixt!
Sheridan and Stefan Booth attend the after show party following a one-off performance of Betwixt! in aid of 'theatre making a difference' at Hurst House, London on 14th October 2008.
Friday 26 September 2008
Sheridan enjoys a night out at the Ivy Restaurant
Sheridan enjoys a nightout at the Ivy restaurant in London on September 25, 2008 with James Corden.
Tuesday 9 September 2008
Sheridan attends TV Quick & TV Choice Awards
Sheridan attended the TV Quick & TV Choice Awards at The Dorchester on September 8, 2008 in London. Pictured with Will Mellor and James Corden.
Friday 1 August 2008
Dogs Today Magazine (August 2008)
With some of the UK's biggest stage and television productions under her belt, it would be no shock if American showbiz execs were soon beckoning to Sheridan Smith - but the natural and effortlessly charming actress has other ideas.
"To be honest, all I ever wanted to do was to save up enough money to open my own dog shelter," she says. "It's been a dream and a goal of mine for a really long time."
Sheridan was notorious in her neighbourhood as the local stray dog keeper when she was a young girl growing up in Epworth, Doncaster. "I was constantly taking in strays in our neighbourhood," says Sheridan. "But if one of the ones we kept got old and died, if I couldn't find another stray, I'd go and take the collars off my neighbours' dogs and try to convince my parents that they were strays too so I could keep them!"
Sheridan's cover was usually blown by a few phone calls from her parents to the neighbourhood dog owners. But her parents say it was all just part of Sheridan's insatiable love for animals.
"Yes, she was helping to find a home for strays before they were even strays," says Sheridan's father, Colin Smith. "But, you know, I remember Sheridan would bring home all kinds of animals. She once cleaned out the inside of an old-fashioned wood television set, kept the screen on, and made a maze and a house with different floors for some pet white mice she'd brought home from her school. We'd come home and it would be like watching white mice on the telly."
Today Sheridan is providing shelter to her own 'babies' - Barry the Pug (aged 18months), Trish the Japanese Spitz (two-and-a-half years), Enid the Shar-Pei (four years), and Lily the Boxer (also four). She's also a patron of The Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare and the PACT Animal Sanctuary.
Although her neighbourhood pet-stealing days were behind her when she approached her teen years, Sheridan's mother remembers when Sheridan would be thrilled to have canine co-stars for some of her theatre roles.
"When Sheridan was in Annie - I think she was 11, 12 and 13 when she performed the role - they let her bring our old dog Ben to act in the play with her as Sandy," mother Marilyn Smith recalls with great affection. "And, you know, Ben was good as gold! And when she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, she got to help audition dogs for the role of Toto. She just loved that!"
Having been in the spotlight since performing with her parents at the age of four (her parents are the country western duo The Daltons), Sheridan had no problem beating young theatre hopefuls for the part of Tallulah in a West End production of Bugsy Malone at the tender age of 16. Since her agent picked her out of that production for representation, Sheridan's CV has boasted roles in The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Love Soup, and Gavin & Stacey, among many others.
Also a theatre darling, Sheridan had a very successful year-long run on the Duke of York's Theatre stage as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, and was hailed as "best of all" by The Stage for her role as Vanessa in Lucy Kirkwood's Tinderbox at the Bush Theatre this past spring.
In preparing for future projects Sheridan says her dogs are always well cared for.
"Some of my closest friends share the house with me and they all make sure that the dogs are fed and get outside when I'm working," she explains. "We all take turns."
And the doggie shift-work system she and her close friends have ironed out will come in handy this year, as Sheridan is as in demand as ever. Most anticipated at the moment is the pilot of a BBC remake of Bewitched, with Sheridan in the lead role.
"It's like one big family," says fellow actor and Bewitched co-star Joe Tracini, who is always happy to help look after the canine family members at Sheridan's house.
The fact that Sheridan surrounds herself with animals is, according to her parents, down to the fact she was raised with pets as a child.
Watching Sheridan with her friends and her dogs is like watching a happy family frolic with total ease in the backyard on a warm summer's day. The affection between her and her pets is palpable. But suggest to Sheridan that her life might play out any differently, and she scrunches up her face in disapproval. She says that she'd still rather curl up on the couch and watch telly with her dogs most nights than go out on the town.
"They are easier to look after than men are, and they don't ask you to do the ironing," quips Sheridan. "Seriously, though, I was on a talk show recently and one of the production people asked me, 'You're an attractive, successful young woman; what are you doing hanging out with your dogs all the time?" And, I just kind of looked at the person and thought, 'What?' I think that some people who don't have dogs don't understand, but I truly look forward to seeing my dogs when I come home at night and love going on long walks with them. They are a constant joy, and they give me unconditional love at all times."
"To be honest, all I ever wanted to do was to save up enough money to open my own dog shelter," she says. "It's been a dream and a goal of mine for a really long time."
Sheridan was notorious in her neighbourhood as the local stray dog keeper when she was a young girl growing up in Epworth, Doncaster. "I was constantly taking in strays in our neighbourhood," says Sheridan. "But if one of the ones we kept got old and died, if I couldn't find another stray, I'd go and take the collars off my neighbours' dogs and try to convince my parents that they were strays too so I could keep them!"
Sheridan's cover was usually blown by a few phone calls from her parents to the neighbourhood dog owners. But her parents say it was all just part of Sheridan's insatiable love for animals.
"Yes, she was helping to find a home for strays before they were even strays," says Sheridan's father, Colin Smith. "But, you know, I remember Sheridan would bring home all kinds of animals. She once cleaned out the inside of an old-fashioned wood television set, kept the screen on, and made a maze and a house with different floors for some pet white mice she'd brought home from her school. We'd come home and it would be like watching white mice on the telly."
Today Sheridan is providing shelter to her own 'babies' - Barry the Pug (aged 18months), Trish the Japanese Spitz (two-and-a-half years), Enid the Shar-Pei (four years), and Lily the Boxer (also four). She's also a patron of The Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare and the PACT Animal Sanctuary.
Although her neighbourhood pet-stealing days were behind her when she approached her teen years, Sheridan's mother remembers when Sheridan would be thrilled to have canine co-stars for some of her theatre roles.
"When Sheridan was in Annie - I think she was 11, 12 and 13 when she performed the role - they let her bring our old dog Ben to act in the play with her as Sandy," mother Marilyn Smith recalls with great affection. "And, you know, Ben was good as gold! And when she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, she got to help audition dogs for the role of Toto. She just loved that!"
Having been in the spotlight since performing with her parents at the age of four (her parents are the country western duo The Daltons), Sheridan had no problem beating young theatre hopefuls for the part of Tallulah in a West End production of Bugsy Malone at the tender age of 16. Since her agent picked her out of that production for representation, Sheridan's CV has boasted roles in The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Love Soup, and Gavin & Stacey, among many others.
Also a theatre darling, Sheridan had a very successful year-long run on the Duke of York's Theatre stage as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, and was hailed as "best of all" by The Stage for her role as Vanessa in Lucy Kirkwood's Tinderbox at the Bush Theatre this past spring.
In preparing for future projects Sheridan says her dogs are always well cared for.
"Some of my closest friends share the house with me and they all make sure that the dogs are fed and get outside when I'm working," she explains. "We all take turns."
And the doggie shift-work system she and her close friends have ironed out will come in handy this year, as Sheridan is as in demand as ever. Most anticipated at the moment is the pilot of a BBC remake of Bewitched, with Sheridan in the lead role.
"It's like one big family," says fellow actor and Bewitched co-star Joe Tracini, who is always happy to help look after the canine family members at Sheridan's house.
The fact that Sheridan surrounds herself with animals is, according to her parents, down to the fact she was raised with pets as a child.
Watching Sheridan with her friends and her dogs is like watching a happy family frolic with total ease in the backyard on a warm summer's day. The affection between her and her pets is palpable. But suggest to Sheridan that her life might play out any differently, and she scrunches up her face in disapproval. She says that she'd still rather curl up on the couch and watch telly with her dogs most nights than go out on the town.
"They are easier to look after than men are, and they don't ask you to do the ironing," quips Sheridan. "Seriously, though, I was on a talk show recently and one of the production people asked me, 'You're an attractive, successful young woman; what are you doing hanging out with your dogs all the time?" And, I just kind of looked at the person and thought, 'What?' I think that some people who don't have dogs don't understand, but I truly look forward to seeing my dogs when I come home at night and love going on long walks with them. They are a constant joy, and they give me unconditional love at all times."
Thursday 17 July 2008
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