TV queen Anne: I was told ‘give it up’
ACTRESS Anne Reid has revealed her early struggles to break into the industry, having been told by a drama coach to “give it up”.
The TV star, 86, has enjoyed a long career, spending a decade in Coronation Street as Valerie Barlow and earning a Bafta nomination for Last Tango In Halifax.
But it was a very different story when she started out at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the 1950s.
Anne said: “I was really naive. I went there for a bit and the teacher said to me, ‘You really do have to forget this.You remind me of a jolly, podgy schoolgirl, and I really advise you to give it up.’
“After I’d been in Coronation Street for about two years, I met him in Oxford Street, sheltering from the rain.
Blooming
“He said, ‘I was wrong about you, wasn’t I?’ And I said, ‘Yes, you blooming well were!’
“It’s always been a fight.A casting director once said to me, ‘You always help us out when we’re absolutely desperate.’ Meaning they’ve tried everyone else in the business.
“I don’t think I was ever spurred on. I didn’t have belief in myself.
“I knew that I could act, but I didn’t think I was good enough to be taken seriously. It’s very difficult to remember, but I know I was always grateful if anybody wanted to employ me.”
Anne also insisted that, despite decades in the business, she often forgets she is famous.
She said: “I don’t think about fame much.
“I completely forget even now that I’m known, so I’m always quite shocked if somebody stares at me.”