Vicky McClure’s life lessons
She’s made a name for herself as DCI Kate Fleming in BBC1’s Line Of Duty. But Vicky McClure’s journey to stardom hasn’t been so straightforward. Despite not being able to afford drama school as a child, the actress continued to brave auditions until she got her big break in 2007 in Shane Meadows’ This Is England. Now as the sixth season of LOD is set to hit our screens, Closer looks at the 37-year-old’s secret to success and reveals what she’s learned along the way…
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH GOOD PEOPLE
“I have great people around me – my fiancé [Welsh actor and producer Jonny Owen, 49], my family, my old friends – and they all have my back. They’ve seen me at my best and worst. It means I’m not pining for reassurance or approval from outside my group of friends. I love spending time chilling with my two nephews who live in spitting distance from me. I don’t have my own children, but I’m like a second mum to my sister’s boys. There’s no love like it: I’d literally die for them. They are my escapism, I guess.”
DON’T LIVE TO WORK
“I live in Nottingham, where I grew up, and I’ve always said I can’t stay in London because I begrudge paying that much for a pint. It really does p**s me off! Ultimately, my life is not predominantly my work. Jonny and my family and friends are my priority. I have a great opportunity to dip my toe into London, get loads of stuff done, and then I go home to what, and who, I love most.”
CLEANING CAN BE THERAPEUTIC!
“Saturday is cleaning day! It’s therapeutic. For me, there is nothing nicer than chilling in a nice, clean house. Then Jonny comes in and I shout, ‘Don’t touch anything!’ My sister and I go to Tesco all the b***dy time. We know all the staff. I like normality and stability. My job is spontaneous and unorganised, but home is where I’m in control. I can do what I want, and that’s ordinary stuff. I’m not just saying it to sound ironically normal! Sundays involve a roast. If not, we slob around in PJs, eating a full-English breakfast.”
LEARN TO LET GO OF YOUR INSECURITIES
“I was a dancer when I was younger and I was exercising a lot, so my body was in good shape. It’s in good shape now, it’s just I’m always going to be conscious of my arms because I don’t lift weights. So you know, let the bingo wings fly! I’d be surprised if nobody’s suffered with self-confidence, whether you’re young or as you get older. But when you’re young, I think you just let it play on your mind for longer. The older I’ve got, the quicker I let it go. It’s harder to tell your younger self – you’ve got to learn it, you’ve got to live it.”
LISTEN TO YOUR MUM
“My mum told me not to pluck my eyebrows. I didn’t listen and she was absolutely mortified. She was right, of course. She’s always b***dy right. When I was younger I had beautiful eyebrows, like Cara Delevingne’s, but I plucked them to smithereens. But as we all now know, they don’t grow back properly, so I’m forever filling in my eyebrows, even if I’m just popping out to buy a pint of milk.”
DO THINGS YOUR WAY
“There’s too much pressure on kids nowadays. There’s so much pressure to look a certain way, be a certain way and have everything under control – but it’s not possible. Everybody’s different and everybody’s going to do it in their own way, so do it your way. I’m not too hung up on what people think of me, to be honest. At an event, for example, I wore a black and white striped jumpsuit. I knew it would attract comments such as it looking like a deckchair, a barcode, a zebra crossing… but I just don’t care. The truth of it is, people will insult you then move on to the next person. You have to ignore it.”
LEARN TO TAKE THE POSITIVES
“I adore my job and will forever be grateful. I’m always going to have imposter syndrome, that I’ve managed to carve out the career that I have – but my family and my home life are always predominant for me; it’s always number one. [Lockdown has been] strange that, as actors, we’re used to sitting around at home waiting for a job, but it’s also really nice to be at home. Jonny and I don’t get to spend this much time together. I pretty much work away from home for the majority of the year. Most weekends, Jonny’s off watching football, so it’s been lovely to have proper time together. So I have to take the positives from that.”
BE YOURSELF WHEN YOU’RE DATING
“Jonny lets me be exactly who I am. No ex of mine has ever done that. We first got to know each other when he organised this whole setup [he wrote and directed 2012 film Svengali, which Vicky stars in]. We spent an hour on the phone and I rang off feeling… like, ‘God, that was weird.’ We were talking about the characters’ relationship, but it became a discussion about what we wanted from a relationship. We were channelling our own feelings through the characters. Then we met in London to discuss the film and I realised how handsome he is! We moved in straight away and haven’t been apart since.”
‘I’m not too hung up on what people think of me’