SIXTY SECONDS
THE CORONATION STREET ACTRESS 35, ON STAND-UP COMEDY, HER SECRET WEDDING AND PLAYING FEISTY FIZ BROWN
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Why have you stayed on the cobbles so long?
It might be half my life but it’s gone so fast. I live in Manchester, my little boy Albert has just started school there and my husband Chris runs our restaurant there – it’s our home and I feel very lucky. I have friends who are actors who have to do all sorts of tours to make a living and with a family that’s nearly impossible.
So did you name your children after the Coronation Street characters Albert Tatlock and Hilda Ogden?
I love classic names. Albert and Hilda are both family names but they were also a nice nod to Coronation Street. The nieces of Jean Alexander, who played Hilda, got in touch after my Hilda was born to say how touched they were and to tell me that Hilda was born in the same month that Jean was born and died, which is a nice bit of serendipity.
Nod to the name: Hilda. Ogden (Jean Alexander).
Your current Street storyline would be enough to put most people off motherhood…
Fiz is worried about her daughter Hope. She’s back from a pupil referral unit but there was a fire at the factory, which Fiz thinks Hope started. They throw a fireworks party but then they suddenly realise the back yard is on fire and Fiz discovers the matches have gone missing so assumes Hope must have started this fire too.
Fiz smashes her daughter’s tablet next week. Ever been tempted to do that yourself?
Not so far. I’ve got a very placid boy in Albert. He does have a tablet but he’s not addicted to it and I am a bit strict with his usage and telly time anyway. He does go on the tablet but I’ve not come close to smashing it yet. I’m sure there’s time for that, though!
What did you actually break when you filmed that scene?
A real tablet. I know, it’s not very environmentally friendly, is it? I didn’t know my own strength, either. The props department said, ‘Just go for it and smash it,’ so I did. It went everywhere, so much so that we had to do it again because the cameraman couldn’t really capture what I did! It was a good job we had another one on standby.
After 17 years in the show, do you automatically know what your character is thinking?
The thing about Coronation Street writers is that they can throw a curve ball at any point. I can’t ever think, ‘Well, Fiz wouldn’t do that,’ because
I’ll open the scripts every week and think, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t know I was going to be doing this’
she’s always evolving and it’s up to the writers what she ends up doing. I’ll open the scripts every week and think, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t know I was going to be doing this.’
How did you get your big break?
When I was young I entered a comedy competition and ended up in the finals at the Comedy Store in London, where I met Peter Kay and Jonathan Ross. I entered again the following year and came second again and after that I started doing stand-up at charity nights and pub nights around my local area in Bury.
What was the inspiration for your character Fiz?
My dad was a children’s social worker and when I was little he worked in social care and mental health, so I met lots of young kids like Fiz. There’s something really special about people who have been in the care system, they are such brilliant children. theatre workshops, which was great for my confidence. After I started doing comedy as a teenager he’d drive me to my gigs.
If you’d had an alternative career, what would it have been?
I’d have been a midwife. St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester, where my babies were born, is my favourite place on earth. If anyone ever wants me to come to a birth with them, I’d definitely go!
Comedy Store. meeting: Peter Kay.
How supportive was your dad?
We were in a pantomime together when I was 13. He wasn’t supposed to be in it. I went along for the audition and they didn’t have anyone to play the dame so he got the main part and I was a little fairy! He also encouraged me to go to
You met your husband Chris 14 years ago. What’s been your most romantic moment?
When we snuck off and got married two years ago. It was romantic for us but maybe annoying for the people who wanted to be invited! It was just me, Chris and our little boy Albert. And he’s forever got that on his little sister: ‘You didn’t come and I did!’ We had two witnesses who worked at the town hall. I never thought I wanted to get married but then Albert came and we were a unit and it sort of seemed more important. We only decided a few weeks beforehand. I did my own make-up and got myself ready, and we didn’t tell anyone other than very immediate family.
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