Siobhan Finneran: “It’s always a pleasure to work with another cake-eating actress” | drama

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Siobhan Finneran, 56, was born in Oldham to Irish parents. After completing a course of theater studies, she landed her first role at the age of 20 in Rita, Sue and Bob Too. She has since worked regularly on stage, along with television roles including Clocking Off, Moorside and, in 2021, Alma Is No Ordinary and Jimmy McGovern’s Time. She also played the sinister maid Sarah O’Brien in Downton Abbey. She is now returning to her BAFTA nominated role of recovering addict Claire Cartwright, sister of Sarah Lancashire policeman Katherine, in the third and final series of BBC One’s drama Happy Valley.

The show returns seven years after it left our screens. Are you as excited as the viewers? I got the scripts and I just thought, I’ve been able to do it again. to me, [writer] Sally Wainwright is a genius. It pulls you in and never lets you go. In the new series, the plot gets out of left field. It’s the right stuff for the edge of a couch. As for Sarah’s central performance, I’ve never seen anything like it on TV.

You and Sarah Lancashire have cracking chemistry. Have you known each other for a long time, God, decades. We first met when I was seventeen. She was two years older and was doing this wonderful course of theater studies at Oldham College, to which she had applied. Sarah and some other students performed at the open day. We met after that and eventually put on a play together. We both have a slightly warped sense of humor and we both love cake. It’s always a pleasure working with another actress who’s already eating cake.

With Sarah Lancashire in Happy Valley. Photo: Matt Squire/BBC/Lookout Point

Is the bond between your characters the secret weapon in Happy Valley? This is the crux of the show. These sisters are each other’s wing. For us, their scenes are like coming home. It feels safe and wonderful. These women have experienced the kind of trauma that completely devastated families. On top of that, Claire is a recovering addict and Katherine’s police job is a daily challenge. So when they get together and chew blubber over a cup of tea, it’s special. That’s what viewers mostly talk about – the sisterly relationship and how much love there is in that house. They are a small unit that has worked hard to survive and they are so attached to them. There is an intimacy there and you totally care about them.

Where do we find Claire in the new series after six years and Claire is very happy. She is in a committed relationship with Neil [played by Con O’Neill] And excited about what the future holds. I’m relieved that Katherine is about to retire and they seem to be in a good, hopeful place. Then a lot of things happen that I can’t talk about. But it was great getting everyone back together. Back on set, being so loud and having so much fun we felt like we only stopped yesterday. Well, even Reese [Connah, who plays Catherine’s grandson, Ryan] He entered the room. He was still a little boy last time; Now he is a fully grown man. It was great to watch him grow up on screen.

Basically I do this job to dress up and have fun, and Alma Not Ordinary ticked both boxes

Claire fell off the wagon in the second series. How were those scenes filmed? Those were heartbreaking things for Sarah and me to do. The way Sally wrote it was lovely. After a night of drunkenness, Catherine very tenderly puts Claire to bed. There is no anger or judgment. She understands that it is a disease. It’s a big choke on love.

I once said that peeling carrots while acting is the hardest thing in the job… I’m pretty good at basic cooking but for some reason food prep during a scene is way beyond me. You should see what I do with those carrots [laughs].

I’ve seen Happy Valley described as Yorkshire’s version of the West. Do you agree this is awesome! I didn’t think of it like that. I love the West. Well, if Katherine is the Sheriff, I might be Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s only friend.

Also included in the Happy Valley cast is George Costigan, who was your co-star in Rita, Sue, and Bob Too. Was it fun working together after all this time? This was as scary a thing as it was 36 years ago. But we stayed friends and it’s nice to be in the scenes with George again. In fact, I have his wife, Julia North, to thank for my entire career. Even after the movie came out, I still didn’t have an equity card so I couldn’t work. Jules was working at the Half Moon Theater in East London and he cast me in the chorus for this show called Bobby. It was about the Opium Wars but it was done like a pantomime. I ended up with a half horse named Randy. I was Randy’s back end, but she finally got the stock card. Bless Jules – and Randy – because God knows what I’m going to do now.

Finneran, right, with Michelle Holmes, George Costigan in the 1987 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too!. Photo: Stanley Bielecki Film Collection/Getty Images

Do you have fond memories of making Rita, Sue and Bob Too? The whole time I was doing this, I was terrified because it was my first proper job. I had never done any photography before, I didn’t understand what was happening and my nerves burned. It was kind of a baptism of fire but fond memories, yeah.

In Sophie Willan’s Bafta Award-winning comedy Alma’s Not Normal, she plays her troubled mother, Lynn. Was this a daunting role to tackle? I was a little afraid of Lin taking over because she’s such a cool thing. But it’s such a pleasure to have Sophie around; Very smart and talent seeping out of every pore. Her writing was funny one minute, and heartbreaking the next. And then get a soft wig and those teeth – happy days! Let’s be honest, I basically do this job to dress up and have fun. Alma is Not Ordinary checked both of those boxes. Fingers crossed, a second series will happen this year.

What was the reaction of the welfare sector? People who work in this field said thank you – in part because it’s hard for them to explain what they do for a living. Alma Not Ordinary gave an idea of ​​how to help all kinds of people dealing with different issues.

Have you reached a rich level playing recovering addicts? But it’s always interesting to play someone who has layers, who has things going on. I would not have played the princess in a pantomime, though for years I had been desperate to do so. I have much more fun playing a clown.

Roles often dry up for mature actresses but you still look so prolific… I can’t moan about that. From my early 20s to nearly 40 years old, I was a jobbing actress. I’ve been out for long periods of time and it’s been hard. My success is delayed but I am grateful for it. I’m not sure I could have survived the attention when I was younger. Now that I’m older I can go, “Shit, I don’t.” I don’t read press coverage and I don’t use social media so this sort of thing doesn’t affect me.

Was Eric Morecambe the first to make you want to perform? When I was a little girl, I would sit on my grandma and grandpa’s floor, watching Morecambe and Wise on TV, screaming with laughter. I still laugh out loud at it 50 years later. I just remember thinking: I’d like to do that. My grandmother is too [the person] who took me to the theater first. I was accompanying her to the RSC in Stratford, I had no idea what was going on, but we had fish and chips and I loved it today. I saw Glenda Jackson play Cleopatra when I was about 10 years old. I still own the software. Obviously something happened.

Are you going to make any New Year’s resolutions? Depriving yourself of a drink or some chocolate is going too far. Enjoy finishing up Christmas leftovers. Do dry February or start your own healthy eating plan afterward.

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