ON THE COVER Sarah Lancashire Big interview
The top actress talks about her unplanned career in the limelight – from reinventing Raquel to her big-screen debut
With a Bafta for Leading Actress and an OBE to her name – not to mention numerous other award wins – Sarah Lancashire really has blossomed.
Her career so far has included roles in all kinds of TV shows from Coronation Street to Clocking Off.
Not bad for someone whose working life began in local theatre and teaching drama at a university.
Initially, Sarah planned to work behind the scenes in television, not being attracted to the idea of fame. Then, after winning a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she had a rethink, finding she very much enjoyed acting.
Her big TV break came as Raquel Wolstenhulme in Corrie, a colleague of popular character Curly Watts. Sarah’s initial contract on the show was for three months, after which she returned to teaching for a year.
Returning to Coronation Street in December 1991, Sarah played Raquel in a different way from how the character had originally been perceived. Written with what Sarah referred to as an “acidic side”, the actress feared Raquel would end up being the Street “bitch” if she continued to play her according to original plans.
“I played against a lot of what they wrote for her, just by making it slightly more comic, so that people would feel more sympathetic towards the character,” she said.
Her instincts paid off as Raquel went on to become one of the most memorable characters in the Street’s history.
In fact, Sarah has had plenty to celebrate in her career, receiving her OBE – for services to entertainment – in 2017.
She revealed she was “slightly speechless” and just regrets that her dad – who was an early Corrie script writer – didn’t live to see her receive the accolade.
“I wish my father had been alive,” she said. “At times like this, one tends to focus on parents, and my father would have been the proudest man in the world.”
Sarah’s three children were there, however. She has two sons with her first husband, music lecturer Gary Hargreaves, and one with current husband Peter Salmon.
Of all the shows Sarah’s been involved in, she’s particularly fond of Last TangoInHalifax, which is said to be making a return.
“Tango is always a delight,” she said. “We have sort of become a family away from the screen as well, so it’s a lovely piece to work on.”
Earlier this year, Sarah confirmed a new series is in the pipeline. “We do plan to do some more this year,” she said. “It’s a great show.”
“I think women are brilliant. And it isn’t about what we look like, it really isn’t”
LastTango is not the only show of Sarah’s to be returning. “HappyValley is unfinished business, so we have to go back and finish that off,” she said.
The show, in which Sarah stars as Sergeant Catherine Cawood, saw her appear on screen without make-up, a move she was praised for.
“That had such an impact,” she said. “It’s liberating to be able to stand in front of a camera without the adornments.
“I think women have not been terribly kind to other women for a very long time. And I think we’re brilliant. And it’s not just about what we look like, it really, really isn’t.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t use that role as an opportunity but actually, I think – more than anything – it was a homage to the strength and beauty of women.”
Aside from those upcoming series, Sarah stars in Yesterday, a film recently released in cinemas, about a man who realises he’s the only person on earth who remembers The Beatles, after waking up in an alternate timeline where the Fab Four never existed.
It’s also been announced that Sarah is to star in TheLight, a drama inspired by the Grenfell tragedy. An explosion in a large construction project leaves many dead and devastates a community. Sarah plays Polly, the wife of a local politician who championed the project.
It’s testament to Sarah’s skills as an actress that she’s still cast in primetime shows – for someone who hadn’t originally planned on being famous, that’s not a bad achievement at all.