You ASK...
She may be young, but Corrie’s Asha has been on our screens for over a decade now! And Tanisha has been making great memories since day one…
“What’s the best thing about having an on-screen twin?”
It’s the bond you form – even if it’s an on-screen bond. In real life, my little brother and I have a 10-year age gap. We have a laugh, but it’s different because he’s so much younger. On set, Adam [Hussain, aka Aadi] and I have so much fun. We went to the same college, and he didn’t even tell me he was auditioning or had won the part. I only knew when Adam was standing on set and went, “Surprise!”
“Who in the Alahan family is most like their character?”
I have to say Jimmi [Harkishin, who plays Dev] – it has to be him! In most cases, actors are nothing like their characters. But with Jimmi, he’s as silly and carefree as Dev, and it’s amazing! It’s great working with Jimmi as he’s such a lot of fun to be around.
“What’s the best piece of advice Jimmi has given you?” That’s hard because Jimmi’s taught me so much over the years. I didn’t know anything when I joined. But he’s always told me to go over what I’m doing. When I had my first big storyline – which was about skin-lightening – Jimmi sat with me a lot. He told me to work out what I want out of it at the end – to see a goal with the story and go with it.
“Do you have memories of when you joined the show?”
I remember my first day vividly. We weren’t at the studios, we were on location. Asha and Aadi were living with their mum, so we were filming at a house somewhere. I was only six at the time. It was overwhelming, but I loved every bit of it.
“What’s been your toughest storyline so far?”
The most challenging for me was the skin-lightening story, because I’d never seen it portrayed before. I haven’t gone through that, and I didn’t know anyone who had either. So it was hard to grasp what someone dealing with that would be thinking. I wanted to do it justice and do it right, and that was the hard part. I felt so honoured to be portraying it.
“What’s the best thing about having an on-screen twin?”
“How do you get into acting?” I’m not too sure! When I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut or a ballerina – you don’t think about real jobs when you’re a kid. But before acting, I was a model in magazines for children’s toys and clothes. That was different, because it was just the cameraman and my mum in the room, but at Corrie there are always so many cameras and people watching all the time.
“If there was a crossover, which soap would you like Asha to visit?” It has to be EastEnders! They’re so brutal down there, and there’s always so much drama – I’d love to be involved in it. There’s always someone screaming out of a window and people in the street in their slippers causing arguments. I used to watch that show every day!
“Who makes you laugh on set?” Elle Mulvaney [aka Amy Barlow] and Millie Gibson [Kelly Neelan] make me cry with laughter. When the three of us are together, there’s carnage on set. I can’t deal with the both of them at the same time – it’s laughter that hurts!
“Were you star-struck by anyone on Coronation Street?”
I was by Jimmi when I first started, because Dev is such a big character, and everyone knows him. I was a little kid walking into an adult world. But now, I still get a little star-struck when Bill
Roache [who plays Ken] comes into the green room for a brew. He’s been here forever – it’s crazy!
“You have a lot of scenes with Mollie (Gallagher, aka Nina) – what’s it like working with her?”
Oh Mollie, Mollie, Mollie… She is something! Mollie goes into her little world all the time. She’s just so funny, even when she doesn’t mean to be – I love her to bits. And I hope Asha and Nina stay together because they’re so cute. A year-and-a-half ago I could never have imagined them being more than friends, but the way it’s happened is so organic, and that’s what I love about it.
“If you could be best mates in real life with a Coronation Street character, who would it be?”
Roy! He’s so wise, and I constantly need advice because I do stupid things all the time. It would be nice for someone to reel me in and give my head a wobble. And if I ever fall into a sinkhole, Roy would know exactly what to do!
“You were on the Big Soap Quiz last year – did you have to brush up on your Corrie knowledge?”
I was petrified going on that show. It was the first time I’ve been on television as Tanisha, not Asha. I just had to go with it and see what I knew on the day – but it wasn’t too bad, because we won!
“What’s been your toughest storyline so far?”