You Ask… Tanisha Gorey (Asha)
Corrie’s Asha Alahan ...faces your questions!
Dev’s teenage daughter Asha is going through a tough time on the cobbles, but actress Tanisha has no trouble tackling your questions…
“Who’s your best friend at Coronation Street?”
Definitely Jimmi [Harkishin] – who plays our Dev! He’s been looking after me since my very first day on set. He’s just like my dad, he’s great. Jimmi’s always the one I can go to, because we work so closely together.
“Do you like watching yourself on screen?”
I don’t like watching myself on screen, no! I just get so embarrassed. But I did tune in when Asha’s skin-lightening storyline aired because it’s such a deep and serious one. My family all watches Coronation Street and they drag me downstairs to watch it with them. Then I catch them watching it again the day after! They don’t give me feedback, they’re just proud of me, and supportive.
“What was your favourite subject at school?”
History. I loved that at school, and I chose it for one of my GCSES. I was very intrigued by it. And it’s a subject that you can keep learning about, even when you’re not studying it at school.
“If you weren’t an actor, what would you like to do?”
I would probably go into criminology – I take a very deep interest in forensics and stuff. Me and my mum are on the sofa every night watching the forensic TV shows like
NCIS, CSI – all of those!
“Does Jimmi ever make you laugh when he shouldn’t?”
Yes, definitely! He makes me laugh in the middle of scenes – every single time. We could be doing the most serious scene ever, and I will be sat there giggling to myself. There was a scene recently where Dev and Mary were talking to Asha about sex – you could see me laughing. I was fine at
“Do you like watching yourself on screen?”
“How do you and Zennon, who plays your screen twin Aadi, get on?”
the start, but then he had to go and make jokes and make it the most awkward and funniest thing ever. He sets everyone off.
Jimmi and Dev are pretty much the same person!
“Who’s been your biggest inspiration?”
I would say my little brother, because I’ll have been at work all day and he’ll come in with a little chocolate bar or something, and give me a little kiss, and then run out again. He watches me all the time on Coronation Street – he’s seven years old, and he’s called Lukah. I chose his name!
“Asha was in a school musical – were you in any at school, and do you have a favourite one?”
I’ve not done any myself. I love watching musicals, though, and my favourite at the moment is either Wicked or & Juliet, which has just been on at the Manchester Opera House – it’s a remixed version of Romeo And Juliet, with lots of pop songs in. I went to the press night recently. I saw Wicked in Manchester, too, but I’ve been down to London to see School Of Rock, The Lion King and Phantom Of The Opera.
“Which Corrie set do you enjoy filming on the most? ”
I would say it’s between the corner shop and the Speed Daal restaurant. Asha was in Speed Daal on a date not long ago, and I like it because we always get to drink real smoothies in there, and they have really comfortable chairs! The smoothies are very real, and very nice.
“What’s your favourite thing to do on a day off from work?”
I just sing and dance! I used to dance, but I don’t any more, so it’s just a bit of fun, isn’t it? That’s normally what I do. I end up dancing round the entire house. I’m quite an oldie when it comes to music, and I really like R&B.
“How do you and Zennon Ditchett [who plays Asha’s twin brother Aadi] get on in real life?”
Zennon and I are just like brother and sister. I go out with him all the time and we go for meals. We’re quite close, and we get on really well. It’s like having a team-mate! Zennon and my little brother are good friends as well, because Zennon has a younger brother, so it’s quite nice.
“Can you still remember your first day at Corrie and what was it like?”
I can! I’ll never forget, Jimmi took me and Zennon for a break from filming. We were on location filming a story that involved the twins’ mum Sunita and her boyfriend at the time. Jimmi took us to a park at the bottom of the road – until we got called to go back! But we had a bit of a bonding session.
“Have you ever met anybody who has made you star-struck?”
Because I’ve been in Corrie for so long, I don’t really think of anyone being a celebrity or anything like that – it all just feels normal. And my family is very humble, so when I go home, they keep me grounded.