The Stage

Sheridan Smith: Not so dumb blonde

Published Thursday 24 December 2009 at 13:05 by Nick Smurthwaite

The Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps star talks to Nick Smurthwaite about performing from an early age, her dedication and playing the lead in Legally Blonde the Musical in the West End

The strutting image of super-confident young womanhood on the massive poster outside the Savoy Theatre is somewhat at odds with the matey, diminutive, self-deprecating Sheridan Smith I’ve come to talk to.

Though she made her West End debut 12 years ago, as Tallulah in the National Youth Music Theatre’s production of Bugsy Malone, Smith has been dreaming of this - playing the lead in a big London musical - since she was a little girl.

Legally Blonde the Musical, in which she plays Elle Woods, the blonde bombshell who turns out to be not so dumb, is into its fourth preview (at the time of writing) and Smith is loving every minute. “I was so nervous, but the audience is loving it and I’ve cried at every curtain call so far.”

Smith is not normally one to chase after jobs, but when she heard the show was transferring from Broadway, she nagged her agent to put her up for it.

“I’d seen some of it on MTV and it blew me away,” she says. “It was just so well written and the numbers were so catchy. Initially I met with the director Jerry Mitchell and some people from Sonia Friedman’s office, then I got a recall with the whole team from Broadway. I was so scared my knees were literally knocking. Jerry was saying, ‘Breathe, Sheridan, breathe’. I knew the score by then and they rang me half an hour later to say I’d got it.

“It’s a dream part. I would have been gutted if I hadn’t got it. I know it’s a big, fluffy, camp show, but it does have a lot of heart and a lovely message - that you can achieve things others don’t think you are capable of.”

While nobody would accuse her of being a spoilt American princess, Smith shares Elle’s determination to prove herself professionally. A self-confessed workaholic, her TV comedy career has gone from strength to strength - The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Love Soup, Grownups, Gavin and Stacey, Benidorm and as Alan Davies’ new sidekick in Jonathan Creek. She has also made a pilot British version of the American classic Bewitched, playing the lead.

Even an appendix operation earlier in the year didn’t prevent her from sticking to her mind-boggling schedule. The writers of the eighth series of Two Pints of Lager simply wrote her operation into the script.

“I did wonder at the time if I needed to take some time off, but I was scheduled to do Benidorm straight after Two Pints, so I had a bit of time in Spain, lying in the sun, waiting to be called.”

Smith’s sunny disposition, modesty and dedication have obviously helped to make her a popular choice with directors and co-stars alike. Having become best known as a TV comedy stalwart, audiences were amazed by her musical mastery and stage presence in the role of Audrey, the tart with a heart, in last year’s revival of Little Shop of Horrors.

The fact is she has been doing musical turns since she was a tot. Her mum and dad, well known on the northern club circuit as the country and western duo the Daltons, encouraged her to perform, usually wearing a cowboy hat, from an early age. At school she played the lead in some home-grown musical extravaganzas - when she wasn’t “messing about and getting sent out of class”.

It was her drama teacher, Mr Sowerby, who suggested that she audition for the National Youth Music Theatre which is based in London, but holds regional auditions every year. At 13 she travelled to New York with the company to appear in the musical Pendragon. “It was fantastic because I’d never even been on a plane before. I was coming out of the lift one day in my hotel and I saw my mum and dad walking across the foyer. They’d saved up all their money to come and see me.”

A year later she was cast as Tallulah - the role played by Jodie Foster in the film - in a stage version of the spoof gangster musical Bugsy Malone. To everyone’s amazement, Jeremy James Taylor, the man who ran NYMT, managed to persuade Alan Parker, who famously dislikes the theatre, to let them produce the show in the West End.

At 16, Smith found herself starring in a musical at the Queen’s Theatre. Didn’t it all go to her head? “Not really,” she says, “because I was so anxious not to let anyone down and to be as professional as I could be. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t a lot of fun. I came down to London on my own and shared a flat with five other 16-year-olds from the show. Can you imagine? We lived on jam sandwiches and, during the day, we did what we liked.

“I was only being paid the Equity minimum, but it seemed like a fortune at the time. I was used to getting pocket money from my mum for doing odd jobs around the house.”

As a result of her stand-out performance in Bugsy Malone, Smith had no difficulty acquiring an agent and was snapped up to play Little Red Riding Hood in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods at the Donmar Warehouse in 1998.

“Into the Woods was one of my all-time favourite jobs, partly because it is such a great show and partly because I was sharing a dressing room with 11 other actresses, including Sophie Thompson, Jenna Russell and Dilys Laye. The age range was about 17 to 70. I was the youngest, of course. We had so much fun and I learnt so much about the profession from them.”

Because she has never been to drama school, Smith has had to learn as she’s gone along. “The people I’ve worked with have been so helpful and generous, giving me loads of useful advice and support. I’ve watched every single person I’ve worked with like a hawk, picking up tricks and tips. In some ways, I’d like to have done the drama school thing, but friends of mine who went have had mixed reactions. Some really loved it, others hated the whole experience.”

Does she think not going to drama school spurred her on to succeed? “I just think I’ve been incredibly lucky,” she says. “I keep thinking every job will be my last, because there are so many talented people out there. I’m not at all aggressive about getting work. I leave all that to my agent. I’m a total wimp when it comes to pushing myself forward.”

This wimp image is at odds with the sharp, assertive types she has played on TV - as Janet in eight series of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Cleo in Love Soup, Michelle in Grownups. Unlike a lot of actors, she is a stranger to unemployment benefit.

Smith’s TV break was in The Royle Family, playing Antony’s girlfriend Emma. Antony was played by Ralf Little, who also plays her boyfriend in Two Pints of Lager. “When I got the part in Two Pints, it was really nice that I already knew Ralf, because it is nerve-wracking when you start any new job. I’m always terrified on the first day.

“When we started rehearsals for Legally Blonde, I was worried I’d be out of my depth because there are so many brilliant musical theatre people out there. I didn’t want to be ‘that girl off the telly’ who’s trying to have a go at singing. I wanted to make sure I did a good job.

“Jerry, the director, is really tough. He made us do an hour of skipping every morning at rehearsals. I’m so fit now. I’m normally so lazy. I’ve been a member of the gym for two years and I’ve never been. I’m the type of person who gets a stitch walking to the car.

“I’m a real perfectionist and, if I can’t get something right, I get very frustrated and full of self-doubt. I need a lot of support and encouragement. This company’s been amazing - they’ve believed in me all the way.”

Has her punishing schedule taken its toll in other areas of her life? “I’ve always jumped at opportunities without thinking too much about my health or my private life. I feel honoured to be doing what I love because there are so many actors who haven’t had the breaks I’ve had. I expect a time will come in my thirties when I’ll want to change my priorities, but right now, at the age of 28, I feel like I want to get it right. I’m just loving every minute of the journey I’m on.”

Legally Blonde the Musical is at the Savoy Theatre, London, previewing now and opening on January 13, booking until May 23