All About Manchester - Suranne Jones

Bring it on!

Suranne Jones first stormed into our living rooms as the brassy Karen McDonald in Coronation Street but has since blossomed as an actress, as her roles have grown progressively tougher - from Joanne Galloway in the West End show A Few Good Men to Ray Winstone's sidekick in detective series Vincent and ex-con Ruth Slater in ITV drama Unforgiven. This month, as she prepares to tread the boards at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Noël Coward's comedy Blithe Spirit, the Oldham-born star tells All About Manchester she is ready for any challenge.

You're making your Royal Exchange Theatre debut this month. How do you feel about performing in such an intimate space?

I've seen most shows here and I've always loved the space. Because it can be used in so many different ways, it always seemed quite big when I was here as an audience member. But when I did the audition and I stood in the centre and looked out, it felt really close. The people who are on the banquettes, right at the front, are basically on stage. I'm hoping they don't sit any of my friends there at press night because that would be frightening.

We're more used to seeing you on television, but you've done quite a lot of theatre, haven't you?

I've been doing theatre since I was ten; I started out in theatre. I did a lot of pro-am productions with adults, a lot of pantomimes, and a big tour of Rita, Sue and Bob Too, the stage version, for about a year when I was 16. At 17, I did eight musicals in eight weeks in the Isle of Man. One of the first things that I did when I left Coronation Street was A Few Good Men with Rob Lowe at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End - that was really my first introduction back onto stage after a five-year gap. So theatre is not something that I've ever forgotten.

Blithe Spirit tells the story of Charles Condomine and his second wife Ruth, whose marriage is sabotaged by the ghost of Charles' first wife, Elvira. What makes it a good Christmas show?

It's a nice romp - a parlour party game set in the 30s. We're doing a séance, conjuring up ghosts, and the audience are invited to that, so it's a bit of an event theatre, which I think will work beautifully at Christmas.

The play first premiered in 1941. What makes it relevant to people today?

I think Coward has themes in his plays that are relevant to us now because he wrote on the turn of an age, when there were a lot of shifts happening. You've got family feuding, which is always current. And I think the supernatural element is also quite relevant because people are becoming more interested in spiritualism, either as a balance to or a substitute of religion.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I've had an experience of something that I couldn't explain, but I wouldn't like to say 'a ghost' because it's like putting a label on something that I'm not quite sure what it is. I'm always trying my hand at anything, from palm reading to reiki.

Pretending for a minute that there are ghosts, of all the famous dead people, whose ghost would you hate most to have to deal with?

Hitler would be a bit of a shitter if he turned up.

Could you tell us a bit about your role in Blithe Spirit?

I play Ruth, who is Charles Condomine's second wife. She's ballsy and straight talking and quite confident. Whether she falls apart in the course of the play, that's for people to come and see.

Will they be changing your appearance for this role?

The costume department here are brilliant. They're making all the costumes from scratch. It's really lovely to have something tailored to your body from that beautiful era. I don't know what they're gonna do with my hair but it's such a beautiful, decadent period that I can't imagine that I'm not gonna love whatever they do to me.

We've seen you as a blonde recently in Unforgiven...

Yeah, that wasn't good. Because I've been so lucky, touch wood, to constantly work, it means that I'm never able to just be myself. I'm always living in expectation of what someone's gonna change my appearance to, and it's a funny thing really that I never get a choice. Maybe when I finally have kids and take some time out I'll chop my hair off and dye it purple.

How do you feel about being referred to in the media as 'former Coronation Street actress', five years after quitting the soap opera?

It's upsetting to think that that will never go away, even when I'm 60. I loved that show and I loved Karen McDonald. But I have done an awful lot of work in the last five years. And I've been acting since I was 10 years old, so it didn't just start at Corrie. So yeah, I put it down to lazy journalism because if one person stops saying it, then others will too.

Could you highlight a few of the most important things you've done since Corrie?

I loved working on everything, but definitely Vincent. I thank a lady called Sita Williams, who saw something in me and put me in Vincent - that was the beginning of me trying different stuff. Then A Few Good Men. Being at the Royal Haymarket in the West End was amazing; it made me realise what you can achieve if you reach for the stars. And then Unforgiven. David Evans, who directed Unforgiven, was brilliant. He gave me the confidence to go with a character to the extent that I completely got lost in it. Those characters don't come along often, especially for women, and when they do, you've got to grab them by both hands. And also the older you get the more confidence you have. You don't give a hoot 'cause you've only got one life, so you want to give it a go to your fullest and not worry too much about things. Worry is a terrible thing in acting.

Is there anything exciting in the pipeline for you after Blithe Spirit?

This takes me up to January 24 and then Five Days, which is a BBC drama that I've just done, comes out in February or March. And I'm reading scripts at the minute and waiting to hear off a couple of jobs.

Do you have a role you'd really like to do?

I've only done a few films, and smallish parts, so it would be nice to work on a film. And I'm still looking for a musical that I really want to do. Sometimes I think I'm getting old and then I think 'no, you're 31'. I respect people like Judi Dench, Julie Walters and Helen Mirren, and they've got 30 or 40 years on me. There's so much time to have a wonderful career and keep blossoming, I hope to God. I'm a hard worker and I love my job, so hopefully I will continue, if I'm blessed.

What's your idea of a perfect Christmas?

This year I'll be going to my parents, seeing them and my nephew. Then I'll be spending part of my Christmas with Antony Cotton, who plays Sean in Coronation Street, and his boyfriend, which will be nice. And then getting to perform at the Royal Exchange Theatre... That is my perfect Christmas.

Any early New Year's Resolutions?

No. I stopped making New Year's Resolutions because I never really kept to them.

That's not because you lack self-discipline - we hear you're training to do your first marathon for charity...

Yes, I'm doing the Virgin London Marathon in April - I'm not one to shy away from a challenge.

Blithe Spirit runs from Dec 9, 2009 to Jan 23, 2010 at the Royal Exchange Theatre. Tickets cost £8.50 - £29.50 and you can book by calling 0161 833 9833.

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