Casualty’s Amanda Mealing
Casualty star Amanda Mealing names the formidable characters even Connie Beauchamp would be scared to argue with…
Casualty’s Connie Beauchamp has had a traumatic year, recovering from the car crash that nearly killed her and left her daughter, Grace, with life-changing injuries. Then she split up with partner Jacob before Grace’s dad Sam made her reapply for her own job!
It’s enough to make mere mortals feel like giving up. But unflappable Clinical Lead Connie just dusts herself off and carries on, strutting around the ED in her skyscraper heels and dishing out killer glares.
‘I absolutely love her when she’s cutting people down to size!’ smiles Amanda Mealing, 50, who originally played the heart surgeon in Holby City before joining the ED.
‘I think the Holby audience were more used to that side of Connie, they never saw her being vulnerable, whereas we’ve done the opposite on Casualty – it’s all been about her personal life. So I definitely want to bring the ice maiden back. She delivers some amazing quips and put-downs – it’s really enjoyable to play!’
Connie’s been saving her best lines for Sam of late (don’t expect that to stop, despite their recent encounter), but Amanda hopes someone more acerbic will turn up to keep her on her toes. ‘Connie’s at her best when she’s got a sparring partner,’ she says.
Here, Amanda gives us four fictional alpha females who would more than hold their own when faced with Connie…
Stand by for a classic Casualty event that would never happen in reality. Max, who has never organised anything successfully in his life, decides, in the morning, to run a speed-dating event that lunchtime, mainly featuring people he already knows. Everyone is able to get spruced up, slap on the make-up and take an extended break to nip over to the pub… even Dylan.
It’s good fun, if not very believable! Meanwhile, Sam is still flirting with Connie, but she insists their clinch last week was a mistake – and the spectre of the Ellisson family causes even more trouble for Mickey and Jez.