Wales On Sunday

‘IT WAS A DREAM COME TRUE’

Former nurse says she took a lot of comfort in playing caring mam in hit TV series

- LYDIA STEPHENS Reporter lydia.stephens@walesonlin­e.co.uk

SHE emerged as one of the most-loved characters of the biggest show of 2021 so far. But Andria Doherty is no career actor and spent decades as a nurse and midwife before trying her hand at acting. In fact, she may well still be more frequently recognised by people as the midwife who delivered them or their children than she is for her on-screen roles.

Then came It’s A Sin. And Andria, from the Swansea Valleys, who played Colin’s mam, Eileen, never thought she would walk away from the show as one of the most-loved characters.

The show follows the lives of five friends in London as they navigate their youth and eventually deal with the Aids epidemic that evolved in the 1980s. One of those characters, Colin, is played by Welshman Callum Howells. Colin is a shy Valleys boy who moves to London and eventually dies after contractin­g HIV.

Callum and Andria share many a heartbreak­ing scene, and her portrayal of a loving mother’s reaction to finding out her son is gay and dying of the terrible disease sparked an immense response on social media.

“She is such a lovely character, and playing my role with Callum as well, it was just a dream come true,” the 58-year-old said of her co-star.

“I’m from the Swansea Valleys and Callum is from the Rhondda Valley, it was such a big occasion for both of us. I met him in London for the readthroug­h and the chemistry we had was so natural. We had that bond and friendship off screen which made filming those really difficult and emotional scenes much more natural. It is really like I have got another son and he has got another mam, we have got such a lovely friendship,”

Andria said she took a lot of comfort in playing Eileen, who reminded her a lot of her own mother. The typical Welsh mam character is the reason why so many viewers loved and adored her.

Eileen was a striking contrast to the mum played in the show by Keeley Hawes, who discovers her son is gay as he is extremely ill with HIV and cruelly prevents his friends from visiting in his final days.

Praising her co-star, Andria said: “Keeley was amazing. And it shows what was really happening and how people were treated. It shows we are moving on now, we have moved on, we need to make sure we carry on.

“Obviously I grew up in the ’80s; I started nursing in 1983. I obviously saw discrimina­tion in society but as a nurse I didn’t see the way people [with Aids] were treated or the treatment they were denied.

“But I spoke to other people who worked in London, who knew about it at the time. And I remember that you had to have an HIV screening test to give blood and I can remember hearing stories about people who were denied mortgages because they were tested for it.”

Andria explained that she got the role as Eileen after attending a casting event for disabled actors in London.

Andria is relatively new to acting. Having always wanted to be one, she started work as an extra while still working as a nurse.

After first being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, then other autoimmune conditions including antiphosph­olipid syndrome and Behcet’s disease, Andria left the profession as she would be unable to fulfil her role due to the brain fog and fatigue she often suffers, as well as her susceptibi­lity to infection.

“It was hard. With Covid, I would have loved to have been able to help out, even doing the vaccine, but I would just not be able to,” she said.

As someone on the shielding list, Andria has also not really left her home properly for almost a year now, only seeing one of her three children once. She and husband Ed, a retired doctor whom she described as so supportive of her acting career, also haven’t seen any of their grandchild­ren. But she said her family’s reaction to the show has been immense.

“They just see me as me, we are a very grounded family. But it is funny, we live in a very small village and it’s as if people are just finding out that I act – one of my neighbours couldn’t believe it was me!” she joked.

Having previously attended a stage school with Disability Arts Cymru, Andria is passionate about more roles and opportunit­ies being opened up for disabled actors.

She said the whole production team including Russell T Davies were so accommodat­ing to her needs, adding that more roles for disabled actors was extremely important to offer equal opportunit­ies.

“I do forget my lines more than another actor might, but there was so much trust in the team and production, it was not a big issue,” she said.

“I have never been in anything big like this.

“I am so pleased for everyone, especially Callum just starting off in his career. It is fantastic.”

 ?? GAYLE MARSH ?? Andria Doherty played Eileen in It’s A Sin, mam to Colin, inset, played by Callum Scott Howells
GAYLE MARSH Andria Doherty played Eileen in It’s A Sin, mam to Colin, inset, played by Callum Scott Howells

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