NEW LEASE OF LIFE
NEWCOMER JULIE HAS MADE QUITE THE IMPRESSION ON THE BROADCHURCH AUDIENCE
Former Coro star Julie makes an impression in Broadchurch
It’s the day after the first episode of the new series of Broadchurch has screened in the UK and the newspapers there are full of rave reviews about Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays a rape victim.
Mesmerising, says one. Powerful, says another. An acting masterclass, and a visceral, vanity-free performance, proclaim others.
“Oh, my goodness,” says Julie, who’s on the phone to the
Weekly from England. “That’s rather nice, isn’t it? I feel chuffed to bits.”
You can just tell that on the other end of the line, the actress – who comes across as very modest and down-to-earth – is probably blushing furiously.
It’s not the first time she has earned praise for her acting.
She won numerous awards for playing Hayley Cropper in
Coronation Street and the scenes leading up to terminally ill Hayley taking her life were described by reviewers as some of the “best acting ever seen on the cobbles”.
But when compliments like “scene stealer” are handed out for her role in one of Britain’s most acclaimed dramas – which screens in the UK just six days before we get it here in New Zealand – that’s a pretty big deal.
“It’s lovely to hear, but also a relief,” she admits. “We were all a little bit nervous about how the storyline would go down, so we can breathe easy now.“
Julie says it has been particularly heartening to be applauded by real-life rape victims for her sensitive portrayal of a woman who has been subjected to a vicious sexual assault.
“That’s the highest praise I could hope for. When you play a part like this, where you are representing people who have been through something truly traumatic and terrible, you can’t help but feel the weight of that. So for people to say that it was realistic makes me very happy.”
Her role in Broadchurch is not the first time Julie (47) has played a character dealing with a sensitive issue. Coro’s Hayley was the first transgender character in a British soap and was credited with bringing the difficulties faced by transgender people to the public’s attention in a sympathetic manner. She was applauded by the LGBT community for her portrayal.
“It is quite a big responsibility having these storylines because you want to represent people as best you can,” says the mum-of-two.
“You don’t want to treat it in a trite way. The way it is written and filmed is out of your hands, but you do the best to play the character as responsibly as you can.
“With Hayley, I saw first-hand how having a character with an issue attached can change the cultural landscape in some ways. It shifted things for some people – they were invited to have empathy for this person and put themselves in their shoes, which is a powerful thing.”
Julie says she misses Hayley. “She was a massive part of my life for a very long time and it was almost like we merged into one. I had a very happy time on Coronation Street. It was a wonderful job that I loved. I still watch it and I love it when Hayley gets mentioned. I go, ‘Awww!’ because I love that I am still part of it.
“But I don’t have any regrets about leaving. I had played Hayley for 16 years and it was time to try something else.”
It’s been three years since she left Coronation Street, during which time she’s had
‘I keep pinching myself all the time that I’ve been part of it’
Julie hoped to hang out with fellow Coro alum Sarah on the set of Happy Valley, but they didn’t
cross paths.
a variety of jobs such as playing a policeman’s wife in the drama series Happy Valley.
“It’s been like a new lease of life for me. It’s like I am fresh out of drama school. I was 44 when I left Corrie and feeling hungry for work again was a great thing.”
She’d love to join the list of
Coro actresses such as Sarah Lancashire, Suranne Jones, Katherine Kelly and Michelle Keegan who’ve gone on to have lead roles in acclaimed dramas. Julie hoped to run into Sarah (who played Raquel Watts in Coro) and Katherine (Becky McDonald) when she worked on
Happy Valley, as they both had roles in the drama – which starred Sarah as police officer Catherine Cawood. But they had no scenes together and their paths never crossed.
“I didn’t even see them in the make-up truck, which was a shame. I don’t really know Sarah because we weren’t on Corrie
at the same time but I know Katherine well and when we found out we were both going to be in Happy Valley, we were over the moon. We thought we were going to be able to hang out together but we never even saw each other.”
She says working on a soap opera is an excellent training ground for drama.
“There’s some snobbery about soaps and soap actors, but the training you get is not to be underestimated. There’s no rehearsal and very little direction in terms of acting – you just do it. The speed that you work at astounds people. That’s what I have found hard to get used to working on normal drama – it seems so slow by comparison.”
Julie hoped to do more gritty dramas like Happy Valley and was delighted when she was asked to be in Broadchurch – a series she’s a big fan of. She says that landing the role on the series came as a surprise.
“They just phoned me up and offered me the job – what an extraordinary phone call that was! I didn’t have to audition which wasn’t usual – I still have to audition for much smaller parts only to not get them.
“But not having to do an audition was a bit of a doubleedged sword because I was a bit terrified that when I turned up for the read-through, I wouldn’t do it right and they’d sack me. The thought of someone taking me aside and saying, ‘Actually, you’re not quite what we were looking for,’ was quite nervewracking. So I was pleased when that didn’t happen!
“Broadchurch is such a successful and seismic show, with an incredible cast, that I keep pinching myself all the time that I’ve been part of it. It really was my dream job.”
‘I was a bit terrified that when I turned up for the readthrough, I wouldn’t do it right’