Susie’s clued up on Christie
CORONATION STREET AND MRS BROWN’S BOYS ACTRESS SUSIE BLAKE IS PLAYING MISS MARPLE IN THE MIRROR CRACK’D
WAS Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple always on your wish list?
Yes, since the 1960s when I saw Margaret Rutherford playing her. That character performance immediately drew you in. I loved her also in other films. I know she’s not fashionable now but I absolutely loved her and thought that’s what I want to do with my life – to tell stories and be part of mysteries because every play is a mystery, isn’t it? You don’t know what’s going to happen until the end.
You played Margaret Rutherford in Murder Margaret and Me, a play about her relationship with Christie. Has playing an actress famous for playing Miss Marple influenced your approach to playing the spinster sleuth in The Mirror Crack’d?
Not really. This time, as Philip Franks, who is directing, said, ‘Susie, this is your interpretation now, we’ve got to find your interpretation’. Miss Marple is from a certain period. Her boyfriend, whom she talks about, was in the First World War, so she goes back quite a long way. My mum was born in 1917, and she and her friends were, you know, ‘good eggs’. They had a certain turn of phrase. So I met some quite useful people growing up.
How difficult is putting your stamp on a character so familiar through the many actors who have played her on stage and screen?
Going back to the books helps. At the moment I’m re-reading Pocketful of Rye and there are some very good descriptions of her in there. I go back to that rather than watching other people playing her to find out what makes her tick.
What’s your impression of Miss Marple?
She’s fascinated by people. She hates evil and injustice, and she hunts it down. She’s relentless in her pursuit of the truth and will go on digging away and digging away. Rachel Wagstaff has written a very good script and she’s made Miss Marple a much clearer character – someone who wants to find out the truth. Not in an unkind way but she will go on at somebody, go on delving until she gets what she wants.
You have to walk on crutches for much of The Mirror Crack’d don’t you?
She’s sprained her ankle but in this production I won’t be in a wheelchair. I’ll be on crutches, which I have to learn how to use.
How do you think Miss Marple compares to Agatha Christie’s other great detective, Hercule Poirot?
They are so different. They both have the same interrogating mind but her methods are very much to do with the fact that she’s a little old lady. She gets chatting to people and shows her vulnerability, all the better to hook into what she needs to know. It’s the knife edge quality of her mind whereas Poirot never shows any weakness. She, on the other hand, will knock on someone’s door and say, ‘ooh I feel a bit faint can I sit down?’
How does this adaptation differ from previous ones?
I definitely think this one stands alone. You could take it to a country that’s never heard of her – although, of course, there isn’t a country that hasn’t heard of her – and it would work. There are names in it that are slightly different from the book. So aficionados might nitpick about slight changes that have been made to make it into a very good play.
Are you fan of mystery books?
I am. My mum was a great reader of mystery books. She loved Ngaio Marsh and stories featuring a sleuth called Albert Campion. I’m absolutely loving re-reading the Agatha Christies. The people are so clearly drawn. Reading them all together like I’m doing you think, ‘these are a multitude of people that she has observed’. Agatha Christie is a Miss Marple herself in order to work these intricate stories through.
You recently said, ‘I was never going to be cast on the way I look but now I can be cast as an oldie’. Have the roles got more interesting as you’ve got older?
Yes, I think they have - and I’ve probably got better too. I’ve never wanted to be a frontliner or a film star. That was never on the cards. It’s only when you look back that you
think, ‘I’ve been busy in my career’. Splendid looks can be quite difficult when you have to do the changeover to middle age. For me, it’s gone seamlessly from girl next door to wives and mothers to grandmothers.
What do people recognise you for?
Either it’s Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV and theatre, various plays I’ve done, or it’s very definitely Coronation Street.
Any thoughts on future work?
I’d love to be the next Miss Marple on telly. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Are you looking forward to touring?
I’ve got better at touring. A good friend helps me find the digs, which are always a problem. Someone once said, ‘You’re not paying me for the performance because I love my job, you’re paying me for the travelling’. Travelling is a bore but I love visiting towns. I take my sketch book with me and make sure I do something to do with the town.
The Mirror Crack’d is at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, from February 14-18.