I want to be an iconic bad girl... like Tracy Barlow
With all TV filming suspended and theatres closed Charlotte gave up her London flat and moved back to her mum’s Surrey home.
When lockdown restrictions lifted last summer, Coronation Street invited her to audition for the role of Daisy. As keen as she was to land the part, Charlotte thought it was a long shot because she was doubtful she would be able to do a convincing northern accent.
She admitted: “That was the thing I was most concerned about. I’m normally quite a good parrot but I’ve always thought the northern accent was quite a challenging one for me.
“I don’t know whether it was because it was my first audition after lockdown and I was so ready for a job, but the accent came much easier than it has before.
“I remember thinking, ‘Right, I’m not joking around. I need to make this work.’ I’d had a whole year of unemployment. It wasn’t a pleasant time but I’m lucky that I have a supportive family who bring me up when I’m feeling down.”
Between acting Charlotte has made ends meet with a variety of part-time jobs, from temping to reception work.
She said: “Ironically, the only job I haven’t done is bar work, so the first time I had to pull a pint at the Rovers it was mortifying.
“They showed me how to do it and made it look effortless, but I made such a meal of it.” In the soap, Daisy takes a cold-hearted view of Jenny’s marriage to Johnny Connor, showing little sympathy for the fact he is in jail and suffering from MS.
While her stepmum is devastated and worried by his ailing health, Daisy has made it very clear that she doesn’t think he is worth the effort.
Her scheming ways are on show this week when she learns Sean Tully (Antony Cotton) is struggling to meet the sales figures for his dodgy pyramid-selling make-up brand Double Glammy.
Daisy offers to help him host a seminar – but only in exchange for a cut of the profits. When the seminar is a success, Daisy signs up to the company herself, with dreams of making her fortune.
Charlotte said: “She’ll step over everyone else to get where she needs to get. She’s out for herself and has questionable morals. But she is loyal to those she loves.
“We have that in common, but otherwise she’s a work in progress as a human. In real life I’d never do or say the things she does, so it’s fun to be able to do it in character.”
Corrie bosses are lining up a romance for Daisy.
Charlotte added: “She is aware of her effect on men and uses that to her advantage. There are plans to put her with somebody who is very different to her, which would be an exciting contrast.”
Charlotte began acting as a child, competing in ballet and singing competitions before landing the role of young Eponine in Les Miserables in the West End when she was 11.
Later that year she made her TV debut in police drama series The Bill.
Charlotte has been dating Paul for two years. Recalling the first time she met his family and told them she was an actor, she said: ‘They said, ‘Can you get on Corrie, we love Corrie.’ I said, ‘It doesn’t quite work like that.’ But it turns out that yes, I can get on Corrie. So they now think I’m a real actor.” ■ More information: itv.com/coronation street and on Twitter: @itvcorrie.