JULIE’S BOLD DECLARATION
It led to a real-life Coro romance!
We meet actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, aka Coronation Street’s Hayley Cropper, at a restaurant in Manchester just off Jack Rosenthal Way. It seems a rather appropriate place given he was one of Coro’s first writers in the 1960s and his wife Maureen Lipman is currently in the show.
Julie (49) bounces in, oozing warmth, smiles and hugs.
Her almost white-blonde spiky hair is set off by a big pair of black-rimmed glasses, and she’s dressed comfortably in a black denim big-buttoned top and trousers. She immediately orders a pot of tea and when we mention the pizza looks good, she says, “Oh, I was going to have a salad, but stuff it, I’ll have a pizza as well!”
Julie became famous for portraying the first transgender character not only in Coro but in a British serial. For 16 years Hayley was much-loved and people still do a double-take when they see Julie − even our waiter was a bit giddy. “I totally get it,” she says. “There were moments when I was working there that the other actors and I would suddenly go, ‘OMG, we’re on
Coronation Street!’ It’s iconic.”
When Hayley succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2014, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house as her final episode aired.
“I was in bits myself,” she says. “On my last day, more than 100 cast and crew came round to cheer me off; I was on the floor in a foetal position!”
Since then, Julie has starred in other hit series such as Happy Valley and Broadchurch, as well as a host of theatre productions.
Her home life is as down-toearth as she is − Julie and her husband, screenwriter Ian Kershaw (who she calls ‘Kersh’) have two teenage daughters, Martha and Lyss, and an 11-year-old rescue dog, a lurcher called Bridie. They have also lived in the same house, outside Manchester since they got together.
“We want that continuity for the girls, so they’ve always got the same bedroom to come back to,” she says.
As we chat, eat and drink tea, Julie tells us about her life on Coro,
being a mum, romance and her latest role in a brand-new play.
How did you and your husband meet?
“It was on my first week of Coro, he was an actor then but now is a writer − in fact, he writes for
Coro. We became really good pals, then we went out one night for a mate’s birthday and we had been full-on flirting all night. At the end of it, I said, ‘I’m going to marry you.’ He laughed, and we kissed. He was going for an audition the next day and I texted, saying, ‘I hope you get this job today because I will expect to be kept in the manner to which I’ve become accustomed to when we get married and have our two kids.’ He texted back, saying, ‘ What do you want from me!?’ I said, ‘Not much, just a top wedding and kid by next Christmas!’ He answered saying, ‘Martha or Arthur?’ Our Martha was born by the next Christmas.”
Wow, that was quick!
“We went out on the Thursday night, I moved in with him on the following Wednesday and I was pregnant within six weeks. We went on a road trip across America and I did a pregnancy test on the Santa Barbara pier, and there is a picture of us − we got a stranger to take it − pointing at the test, saying, ‘ We’ve just found out about you, Martha or Arthur!’ It was Martha. It’s just been the greatest thing.”
What’s been your most romantic moment?
“With Kersh on our first
date. We kissed on top of the giant pebble outside Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. We go back on the anniversary, but these days I have to get a leg-up. Because I got pregnant so quickly, we agreed to carry on courting each other, and we have done. Very early on we got into the habit of really looking after each other and going on dates. We’re romantics. But what’s really romantic was that he wrote a one-woman play for me called The Greatest Play in the World and gave it to me as a Christmas present! I’ve already done it in Edinburgh and I’m performing it in
London in December.”
What sort of mum are you? “My mum and dad are a hard act to follow, but I’m trying to emulate them. My family has a great relationship, the four of us. We fall out constantly, though. There’s always a big old fight going on, with doors slamming and everything. I’m always embarrassed if there are friends around. It’s not the image I want to project. But my friends, one after another, have always said to me, ‘This house is so full of love.’ It means the world to me, that does.” Are the girls going to follow in your footsteps?
“Martha showed some interest in drama for a while, but has now fallen out of love with it. She’s doing her A-levels and applying for uni and wants to do English. Lyss has got the gift of contentment. Whatever she does she’ll be great. She’s a people person and people are fascinated by her.”
What’s the most outrageous place you’ve been recognised?
“Oh, all over the place. I was once at a funeral and someone asked me for an autograph and I thought that was a bit off. But honestly, I really don’t mind people coming up to me. I got used to people pointing at me going, ‘ Coronation Street!’
With Hayley’s pancreatic cancer storyline I felt a big responsibility, and of course people are going to want to talk to you about their cancer experience, and you have to engage with them.”
Who were your best pals on the show?
“Obviously lovely David Neilson who played my Roy, we had a great relationship. I still see Katherine Kelly (Becky). I can always rely on Jennie McAlpine (Fiz), Alison King (Carla) and Sally Dynevor (Sally) to lend a hand with any charity project I work on – they’re all great mates.”
Were you a bit starstruck on the Broadchurch set?
“The first day I was a little bit overwhelmed by it. We did a photoshoot and it was like being in Madame Tussauds! I was like, ‘ What the hell am I doing here?’”
Any more starry- eyed moments?
“I had breakfast with [comedian] Lenny Henry recently. It’s like I’m living in a parallel universe where my daughter is off to secondary school and I’m FaceTiming her, and then I’m like, ‘So how are things, Lenny?’”
What is your worst habit?
“I leave a trail of mashedup tissues wherever I go. I always have a bit of toilet roll up my sleeve or in my pocket and it falls out and Kersh hates it.”
Do you get stage fright?
“I get nervous, but that’s fine. It’s ridiculous, that mad adrenaline rush you get before you go on stage. You are only actually supposed to feel like that rarely in your life, like if you are in danger or something. Doing it every night can’t be good for you! Although, I like a dressing room − I miss my dressing room at Coro. I like my photos of the family around and any stuff that helps me with the part.”
How do you feel about getting older?
“I feel really good about it. I like it all. When you’ve been a very beautiful young woman, ageing is a big thing and hard. That moment of becoming invisible to men is really painful, but I’ve always been invisible... I really have, so there’s no loss there! I’ve never turned heads in my life except as Hayley! Never in my life has anyone whispered about me and I’ve thought it’s because I’m looking really hot. I’m settling into myself and I’m fitter than I ever was because I walk a lot. I’ve always thought
I’ll make an ace old woman. My mum says, ‘Old age, you can shove it!’ And she’s right.”
Do you feel any different from when you were 16?
“I am the same person now, in essence. A few more wrinkles and a bigger belly!”
‘My mum says, ‘Old age, you can shove it!’ And she’s right’