‘Be individual – that’s me all over’
Ex-emmerdale star Lisa Riley, 42, joins a star-studded cast for a new BBC drama from the writer of Poldark, set in a Manchester beauty salon…
You play tattoo artist Tina – have you been inked yourself?
No, I’ve been [to get one] three times and chickened out at the last minute! Why? The first time I thought, “I’m so pale, and you need nice olive colour skin to make them work.” Then, as soon as I heard the “zzzz” of the machine I was like, “No, no no!” But, if Age Before Beauty gets a second series, I will get a Manchester Bee tattoo. I’m Mancunian through and through.
You started filming just before last year’s devastating Manchester Arena bombing…
It happened just after we started filming, and it was so upsetting because we drove by the Arena every day from our hotel to the set. When I was 17 I was caught up in the Manchester IRA bombing [in 1996, which caused £700m of damage]. I was a Saturday girl at the Disney Store, and I have a scar on my arm from a piece of shattered glass. That had a lasting effect on me – but this one was different in so many ways, because the attack was on kids.
What is the new show about?
It’s about the secrets within a family that owns a beauty salon in Manchester. Tina is the second-born of four sisters, who run it with their mother [Ivy-rae Regan, played by Sue Johnston], the rock of the family, and the brains. She knows everything, so the question is, do you lie to your sisters and your mum about what’s really going on? Tina also harbours a wonderful and shocking secret…
Did you have to learn how to operate actual tattooing machinery?
I spent an entire day at a tattoo salon in Hastings with a female body artist. She taught me how to hold the gun and stretch the skin, too. I did everything, just without the needle…
Age Before Beauty also asks questions about what makes us beautiful...
Nowadays, people have eyebrow tattoos like they’re buying a Twix. We’re removing young people from being children, and that does concern me. You’re told you have to look a certain way, but you don’t. It is much better to walk in your own shoes and find your own look. Be individual – that’s me all over. Even when I was at my biggest [Lisa has lost an incredible 12st, going from a size 28 to a 12], I still dressed differently. Don’t be a sheep.
You rose to fame in Emmerdale. Would you ever go back?
They ask me to come back all the time. It’s great, and Dominic Brunt [who plays Paddy Kirk] desperately wants me to. Maybe one day, when I’m 60. Though I’d go on Corrie if they asked – I’d love to be Norris’ naughty niece. But being an actor is like putting a new Worzel Gummidge head on – I like playing lots of roles now.