0:00:02 > 0:00:05Today, I'm meeting an actress who's recognisable to millions
0:00:05 > 0:00:07as one of the longest-serving cast members
0:00:07 > 0:00:10of the hospital drama Casualty.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11She grew up in Cardiff,
0:00:11 > 0:00:14the eldest sister of a famous sportsman,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17and her career has taken in the screen, the stage,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19musicals, even comedy.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23But she almost gave it all up to teach.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25I'm off to meet Suzanne Packer.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32He said, "You're not going to act?" I thought, "Oh...yeah."
0:00:32 > 0:00:35I said, "I tell you what, if I get into drama school, I'll act.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37"If I don't, I'll see what I do."
0:00:37 > 0:00:40And that was how arbitrary that decision was.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Very few people knew. The audience went "really?" Really?
0:00:43 > 0:00:45You could hear them going, "No!"
0:00:45 > 0:00:50I decided - absolutely, no word of a lie -
0:00:50 > 0:00:54that I was no longer an actor and I'm going to be a teacher.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56And I remember coming home...
0:00:56 > 0:00:57Well, I didn't come home,
0:00:57 > 0:00:59cos whenever I'm in a major disappointment,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01I come back to Cardiff.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04And great people - Willard White, Simon Rattle,
0:01:04 > 0:01:05working with Trevor Nunn...
0:01:05 > 0:01:09I mean, everything was just tick, tick, tick!
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Hello, Suzanne. Hi. It's lovely to see you. You, too.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Thank you for taking a break from filming Casualty.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24I imagine I've interrupted you in a really hot storyline, have I?
0:01:24 > 0:01:26It is quite a hot storyline.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29I'm going through quite a lot, at the moment, yeah.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31You've got that, "I'm not going to tell you what it is..."
0:01:31 > 0:01:33On pain of death.
0:01:33 > 0:01:34THEY LAUGH
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Well, it's really good that you're here.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Casualty, of course, filmed in Cardiff,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42which is a city you know very well and love and grew up in.
0:01:42 > 0:01:43Absolutely, yeah.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45It was a dream come true,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49because for eight-and-a-half years, I was up and down the M4,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52getting over that bridge to get to work in Bristol,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55and then they decided that they were moving,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57and it happened to be my hometown.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Tell me about growing up in Cardiff, then -
0:01:59 > 0:02:01tell me about your schooldays.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02Was it happy?
0:02:02 > 0:02:06I have a very, very strong memory of school, because I loved it.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Teachers tended to like me, so I always felt very comfortable.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12I only have good memories of school
0:02:12 > 0:02:16and I think that's made a massive difference to the choices I've made,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20because my school - my high school, particularly -
0:02:20 > 0:02:25had a very, very strong focus on music and drama.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28That made a massive difference in terms of my choices
0:02:28 > 0:02:31for my career and my university career.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34So yes, it's only fond memories.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38I'm going to take you back to that high school, because...yeah.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40We've got something here.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Oh, wow! Have you seen this before?
0:02:44 > 0:02:50I have. This was in the entrance hall of Llanedeyrn High,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54so everybody saw that when they came into school.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58This was Viva Mexico, first musical I ever did.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02I can't remember my character, but I was the lead. Clearly.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07And, bizarrely - this is so lovely - that's still my best friend,
0:03:07 > 0:03:08right there. Really?
0:03:08 > 0:03:11What's her name? Ailsa Cameron.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Gosh, and I tease Ail.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15SHE LAUGHS
0:03:15 > 0:03:20We'll have a glass of wine over this. Brings back the old days. Yeah.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Was that when you knew, "That's it - acting for me."
0:03:24 > 0:03:27No, I didn't know acting then, not at all.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29But I loved it.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Around that time, I was still thinking I wanted to be a journalist.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Really? Bizarrely.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38But no, it wasn't until I was at university that I decided on acting.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Cos I did theatre and drama at Warwick
0:03:41 > 0:03:44and we were in our last year and we were in the library,
0:03:44 > 0:03:46we were supposedly revising.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49And my dear friend, Dave Bond,
0:03:49 > 0:03:50he said "Sue, what are you going to do?"
0:03:50 > 0:03:53I said, "Oh, I don't know." He said, "You're not going to act?"
0:03:53 > 0:03:56I thought, "Oh...yeah."
0:03:56 > 0:03:59I said, "I tell you what, if I get into drama school, I'll act.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01"If I don't, well, I'll see what I do."
0:04:01 > 0:04:04That was how arbitrary that decision was. Really?
0:04:04 > 0:04:10Then I did...I think about four auditions at various drama schools,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13of which Webber Douglas was one,
0:04:13 > 0:04:18and that's where I ended up going after I left university.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21And did it feel like a natural choice, once you were there?
0:04:21 > 0:04:23No, it didn't. No?
0:04:23 > 0:04:27I always remember being in an improvisation class, for example,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and I always used to feel I didn't get as much time as other people.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33I don't know if that was because I wasn't very good at improvisation
0:04:33 > 0:04:35or whether I genuinely didn't have enough time.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40I always used to feel like I was in the lower rung, in the B-stream, never in the A-stream,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42cos I used to think, "They're not that good
0:04:42 > 0:04:44"and they're getting more time to see if it..."
0:04:44 > 0:04:47So there was that, then an interesting thing happened
0:04:47 > 0:04:48when I left drama school.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52I left early, I didn't do my full three terms,
0:04:52 > 0:04:57because I was offered a job and I was offered an Equity Card -
0:04:57 > 0:05:01it was the golden nugget, it was the ticket.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03In those days, you couldn't be a professional actor
0:05:03 > 0:05:06unless you were an Equity member.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08So I had to ask permission to leave early
0:05:08 > 0:05:13and I remember my head of acting saying, "Congratulations",
0:05:13 > 0:05:18obviously, "but you know...don't have too high expectations -
0:05:18 > 0:05:22"because of your colour, there won't be that many jobs,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26"so I just want you...I don't want you to be too disappointed,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28"so maybe lower your expectations."
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Really? Oh, yes. Because of your colour?
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Uh, yes. When are we talking?
0:05:35 > 0:05:40This would have been '85...'85.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44And had you been aware that...that anyone might have even thought
0:05:44 > 0:05:47that was going to be an issue?
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Well, yes, as a political individual, obviously -
0:05:50 > 0:05:54you watch television, and there aren't as many black actors
0:05:54 > 0:05:57and there aren't as many black roles.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01I slightly don't know what that means now, because any role could be black,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04if you choose to make it a black role, but, um...
0:06:04 > 0:06:08So, I suppose, in that regard, I automatically assumed,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11"Well, maybe because there are so few,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14"then there's going to be a lot of competition for those few roles."
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Which is...I think that that was the angle she was coming from.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I think she was saying, "Just be realistic -
0:06:20 > 0:06:23"there won't be as many opportunities because there are fewer roles."
0:06:23 > 0:06:25I took it that way, I have to say.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Yeah, but...four years down the line,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33when I had hardly been out of work, I proved her completely wrong.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36But... Did you take the job? I did take the job.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39I had that thing everybody wanted then,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41which was the Equity Card, so...
0:06:41 > 0:06:45You didn't go back and wave it in her face? "Look at me!
0:06:45 > 0:06:48"I did get a job, I've been in work ever since!"
0:06:48 > 0:06:50I never did. I don't need to do that, you see,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52cos you can tune in on the Saturday night.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55See you on Casualty. Exactly.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58I told you that Suzanne Packer would go nowhere(!)
0:06:58 > 0:07:02But no - if I had really taken store by that,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04I think my spirits would have been so low,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06I probably would've given up, you know,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08which a lot of my friends did at drama school.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10They had maybe six months to a year out,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and then they gave up. Yeah.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15And so, you're Suzanne Packer. Yep.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Whereas your father's name is Jackson. Yeah.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Were you born Suzanne Jackson?
0:07:20 > 0:07:25Yes, but there was a Susan Jackson
0:07:25 > 0:07:27and that was felt to be too close.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30So I made the choice to change my surname
0:07:30 > 0:07:35and so I chose my grandmother's maiden name on my mum's side. Ah!
0:07:35 > 0:07:38There's two performers in your family. There are.
0:07:38 > 0:07:44So I'm going to show you - you and your brother together. OK.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46In a rare appearance.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49ON VIDEO: Let's meet the Pointless celebrities.
0:07:49 > 0:07:50Oh, no!
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Goodness, that's why I don't like doing these things,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56cos they come back to bite you!
0:07:56 > 0:07:57LAUGHING: Forever!
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Bless. Colin, our Olympian hurdler.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Suzanne, Tess Bateman on Casualty.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06But what nobody knows is that you're brother and sister.
0:08:06 > 0:08:07I don't know, I imagine...
0:08:07 > 0:08:08AUDIENCE: Oh! I know!
0:08:08 > 0:08:12I know, very few people knew. The audience went, "Really?"
0:08:12 > 0:08:14You could hear them going, "No!"
0:08:14 > 0:08:17That's very exciting indeed. Whose idea was it to do this?
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Thank you.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25I never do these. Why? Cos I get very self-conscious.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28And interestingly, Colin and I have spoken about this quite a lot...
0:08:28 > 0:08:32100 seconds to name as many Greek foods...
0:08:32 > 0:08:36..he is very used to being himself in front of a camera,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39whereas I've always been somebody else...
0:08:39 > 0:08:40ON VIDEO: The one I know...
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Tsoliades. Tsoliades.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Is it right? If it is...
0:08:45 > 0:08:48You don't even like really looking at it, do you? Not really.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49Ooh!
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Oh! Not really!
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Suzanne! He disowned me, after that.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55ON VIDEO: No-one likes to see that happen.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57COLIN: No, especially her brother.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59"Especially her brother."
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Oh, he's so mean... So that was his idea.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Oh, yeah, and he persuaded me to do it, cos I kept saying no.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11I've been asked to do so many of these kind of programmes -
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Weakest Link, and all of these - uh-oh.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Back now to musicals. Oh, musicals...
0:09:18 > 0:09:22You've got a fine voice. Musicals.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Musicals were always my first love - oh, yes.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30So this is Porgy and Bess. Yes - I did this at Glyndebourne.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33That's a big gig. It is.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35I mean, let's put it into perspective -
0:09:35 > 0:09:38I was one of 50 in the chorus.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41I didn't have a lead role. Still a big gig!
0:09:41 > 0:09:43No, it still is a big gig. Are you on here somewhere?
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Yes - so that picture was my costume.
0:09:47 > 0:09:53I had the hat, I had the colour of the dress, the sandals I wore.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56If I had died after I did this, I would have been happy.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Really? Hm. Why? What was it about it you loved so much? Oh...
0:09:59 > 0:10:04The calibre of the voices and the musicians.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07And great people - Willard White, Simon Rattle,
0:10:07 > 0:10:08working with Trevor Nunn...
0:10:08 > 0:10:12I mean, everything was just "tick, tick, tick!"
0:10:12 > 0:10:14It was just a brilliant experience.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17So why didn't you stay in musicals?
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Why aren't you a musical actress now?
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Very, very, very good question,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26which I think I've only started to answer for myself, recently.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30When I went to London, I lost of confidence,
0:10:30 > 0:10:36partly because I was working with people - not just on Porgy,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38but in other musicals I did -
0:10:38 > 0:10:41where I was witnessing such great talent.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46I felt I was the weakest link and luckily, obviously,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49because I was building my skills as a dramatic actress,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52my confidence in my singing was going a little,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55but then I was becoming more confident in my straight acting
0:10:55 > 0:10:58and then opportunities were opening up.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Singing and musicals sort of, just, drifted away.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03How did you get into Brookside?
0:11:03 > 0:11:06When did television start coming into your life?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08OK - you have an agent, and obviously,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10jobs come through the agents, books
0:11:10 > 0:11:12and then if they think you're right for it,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14they'll put you up for it.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19So, I was put up for Brookie and I didn't get it.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23And I remember coming home - well, I didn't come home,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25cos whenever I'm in a major disappointment,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27I come back to Cardiff -
0:11:27 > 0:11:29and I went to my parents and I was just really down.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31And this was for the part of Josie Johnson?
0:11:31 > 0:11:33This was for the part of Josie.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Then about, I think, a week later, I get a phone call to say,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39"Oh, they want to see you again."
0:11:39 > 0:11:43And then I went for it the second time and then I got it.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Phew! That was a big role as well.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50I mean, everybody watched Brookie at the time. It was so popular.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52It was a massive change in my life, because suddenly,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56I was recognised everywhere.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59And you were in Brookside for quite a few years, weren't you?
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Um...not as long as I think a lot of people think.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05I was in it as a main character, straight through,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09for a year-and-a-half, so that was '90 to '91.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12My agent at the time said to me...
0:12:12 > 0:12:14They offered me another contract and he said,
0:12:14 > 0:12:19"Right, Suzanne, this will take you now to two-and-a-half years."
0:12:19 > 0:12:22He said, "You have to make a decision,
0:12:22 > 0:12:23"whether you want to be a soap face
0:12:23 > 0:12:26"or whether you want to be an actress."
0:12:26 > 0:12:28He said, "If you left now,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31"you still can do maybe the roles that you want to do.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36"It might be harder being so identified with Josie,
0:12:36 > 0:12:37"if you stay another year."
0:12:37 > 0:12:40I still had that ambition to do other roles,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43and...I just wanted to just do other things.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I'm just going to show you something, actually,
0:12:46 > 0:12:47which you did for a while with...
0:12:49 > 0:12:53..a group of other actresses. What's the BiBi Crew?
0:12:53 > 0:12:58The BiBi Crew. This would have been '93, '94. OK.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01But you'd just left Brookside, presumably?
0:13:01 > 0:13:07Yeah, not long, yeah - I was pretty much back, you know...jobbing actor.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09I didn't know any of these.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I think they all knew each other, but I didn't know anyone.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16I got involved with this, and because we were all of Caribbean descent...
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Your parents are Jamaican, aren't they? My parents are,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and we found that we would share all these stories about our upbringing,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25find that we had so much in common,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28and we just decided to...put on a show.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32And we did - we devised a show and it was such a hit.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36And it's Caribbean experiences? Yes, it is.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41We're drawing from what we know, and you know, how we were brought up,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45how hard our parents were, they were such disciplinarians.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Jamaican parents did not, you know...
0:13:50 > 0:13:53They were hard, and we all have that in common.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57In what way were they hard? I mean, my mother, for example...
0:13:57 > 0:14:00I couldn't be cheeky to my mum. It was out of the question.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I mean, you couldn't even think to be cheeky.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07And we all had that - our mothers, real matriarchs, and...
0:14:07 > 0:14:08Then of course, culturally,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10the other cultural things like food...
0:14:10 > 0:14:14Sunday was rice and pea and chicken, we all had that.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16We all would have Saturday soup.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Considering they were brought up in London,
0:14:18 > 0:14:22I was brought up in Cardiff, there were so many connections.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25And you were also doing a bit of teaching. Yes.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Now, where does the teaching come from?
0:14:28 > 0:14:32OK - 19...I think it was 1995,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36I was working at Bristol Old Vic and I was in the rep company.
0:14:36 > 0:14:43Somewhere in the middle of that, I lost my desire for acting.
0:14:43 > 0:14:49And I decided - absolutely, no word of a lie -
0:14:49 > 0:14:52that I was no longer an actor and that I'm going to be a teacher.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53Why?
0:14:55 > 0:14:57I just think I got fed-up.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02I just had a dip in acting, I just didn't have a desire for it.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04I didn't have a buzz.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07I don't have any other reason.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08I really don't.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10I just seemed that, one day, I was enjoying it,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12the next day, I wasn't,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15and I just felt I had other strings to my bow,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19so I trained to teach theatre and drama, 11 to 18.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Did it, did the year.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24In the middle of that year,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27I was asked to do a TV half-hour drama,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29which I had vowed I wouldn't do.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33A lovely producer, Jane Dauncey, rang my agent up
0:15:33 > 0:15:38and said there was this piece that had been written for me... See!
0:15:38 > 0:15:40And do you know what? Oh, no! Oh, yes!
0:15:40 > 0:15:46Glorious... It's Wales Playhouse, wasn't it? That's it, yes. OK.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48How extraordinary.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Oh, there you go. I have not seen this for such a long time.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56I've got that top. Have you?! Still? Yeah!
0:15:56 > 0:16:00They said, "Is there one thing you'd like to take?", and I took that top!
0:16:00 > 0:16:02And it was written for you? Yes.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Yeah, I can see why your ego was massaged to go back into acting.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09I know. It was a week. We did it in five days, I think.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11There was a real sense of,
0:16:11 > 0:16:12"Oh, I'll just do this for five days
0:16:12 > 0:16:15"and then I'll go back to my course and I'll be a teacher."
0:16:15 > 0:16:17No expectations. No expectations.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19There's always that thing of...
0:16:19 > 0:16:21You had the answer machine in those days.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23"Has my agent rang?!"
0:16:23 > 0:16:26I didn't have that, because I had my qualification and,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29when I wasn't acting, I would teach.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32I did supply teaching. I always enjoyed my teaching.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34I really got involved with the students
0:16:34 > 0:16:35and I got involved with the schools
0:16:35 > 0:16:39to the extent that I was offered a full-time job at one school.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Were you tempted to take it?
0:16:42 > 0:16:44No, I wasn't.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47I wasn't because, by then, I had decided I really was an actor.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Or both! But I was both.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53But I was at this particular school for three months...
0:16:53 > 0:16:55How difficult were the kids?
0:16:55 > 0:16:59And managing children, managing a class of children? Was that tough?
0:16:59 > 0:17:02No, I loved it. Did you? And do you know why? Because of the acting.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06They fed off each other in a very, very positive way.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Because nine times out of ten, I'd be recognised,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11so I'd say to them,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14"If you get on with the work that your teacher has set,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17"I will give you ten minutes at the end of the lesson
0:17:17 > 0:17:20"to ask me any question you'd like about acting."
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Did you bribe them, Suzanne? Let's be honest. Pretty much.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25But, do you know what, Sian?
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Not once did I have another teacher have to come in
0:17:28 > 0:17:30and calm my class down.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32You once said about teaching, "The more I teach,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35"the more I feel it's probably the best job in the world."
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Yeah. I do.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40I do, think it is, and it makes me...
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Gosh, I got emotional then.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Because I think it's so undervalued as a profession.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48They should be given far more money
0:17:48 > 0:17:51and I think they should be given far more respect and credit.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54You're clearly really passionate about it. Yeah.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57And it obviously tapped into something
0:17:57 > 0:17:58that acting couldn't give you.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02I think that is true, because I remember...
0:18:02 > 0:18:05And I broke down and I cried, and they all gave me a big hug...
0:18:05 > 0:18:09..at this particular school, where they'd gone through their GCSE
0:18:09 > 0:18:11and they had to perform.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14They worked really hard, they were rehearsing in their break time
0:18:14 > 0:18:19and lunch hour, and they did beautifully well.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Afterwards, they came up to me and they thanked me, and...
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Oh, what did they say? The definition of real joy?
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Happy... Um... "Joy is happiness shared."
0:18:32 > 0:18:35And I think those are the moments,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and you don't necessarily get a lot of those moments,
0:18:38 > 0:18:43and I think definitely, on that occasion, that was happiness shared.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46So, what happened next? Bit of acting... Yep.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Bit of teaching... Yep. And then...
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Well, then I got married in '97, so I was still acting...
0:18:53 > 0:18:56And you met Jesse Newman. I met Jesse Newman.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58An American actor.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02Yeah. I was in America, in Brooklyn,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06and I met him there doing a show.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10We had gone to The States to perform and that's how we met.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14And then '99 was when I moved over to The States.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16We were starting to think about having a family,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20and he had been struggling to act over here.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22It was actually as much about having this adventure.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24You know, he'd had time over here.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26He'd spent a couple of years living and working here
0:19:26 > 0:19:29and I'd never done that, so it was...
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Yeah, there was more of a romantic, exciting side,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37as well as the practical side.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Did that romantic, exciting side stay?
0:19:40 > 0:19:46Um...not with him. Oh, dear. Didn't it? But with the city.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47I fell in love with New York
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and I don't think that chapter's over for me.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I really feel I have a connection with New York.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57And you had a child in America. Oh, yes. You had Paris. Why Paris?
0:19:58 > 0:20:00We just liked the name in the beginning.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04And not because of Paris Hilton, because of the original, you know,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06it's an ancient Greek name, you know,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Paris is a lover, Romeo and Juliet...
0:20:08 > 0:20:13And what was happening with your relationship with Jesse then,
0:20:13 > 0:20:14once Paris was born?
0:20:14 > 0:20:20Um, our relationship was already dying, but I think having a child,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23really, as everyone knows, it's another dynamic,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27and I personally felt I started to get my most homesick
0:20:27 > 0:20:30because I felt I wasn't getting the support.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33And, of course, I couldn't work because I had this new baby,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36so I was desperate to come back to Britain,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38and at that time we both were going to come back,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40and I was only ever going to come over for two weeks
0:20:40 > 0:20:44and then go back to America and start to dismantle our life there
0:20:44 > 0:20:46so we could make the move back.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50On the Friday after we arrived, my agent rang
0:20:50 > 0:20:54and it was to play Tess in Casualty.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56I had the audition,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00and by five o'clock that same day they offered me the role.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03So then I ripped up my return flight
0:21:03 > 0:21:10and, within less than three weeks, I was on set,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12still breastfeeding...
0:21:12 > 0:21:13SHE LAUGHS
0:21:13 > 0:21:16That sounds hard. Paris was three and a half months.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18It was hard but it was hard, not so much from...
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It was physically tiring,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24but my brain, I couldn't remember lines.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29now I'm going to show you your first day as Tess Bateman. Oh, no!
0:21:29 > 0:21:31This I have definitely not seen.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33CASUALTY THEME MUSIC
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Familiar theme. Yeah, that doesn't change.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Very familiar, I bet you hear that in your sleep, do you?
0:21:38 > 0:21:41'If you would let people know the waiting time is now four hours.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43'I realise you are busy.'
0:21:43 > 0:21:45PHONE RINGS 'Holby ED?
0:21:45 > 0:21:47'I'm afraid she's a bit busy at the moment,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49'can I ask what it's concerning?'
0:21:49 > 0:21:50I do not remember this scene at all.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55'Hello, this is Tess Bateman, Emergency Department sister.'
0:21:56 > 0:21:58'Do we know how many casualties?'
0:21:59 > 0:22:01'We'll be standing by.'
0:22:01 > 0:22:02'What was that about?'
0:22:02 > 0:22:05There's been train crash, we're going to have to clear the Department.'
0:22:05 > 0:22:06'Really? Where?'
0:22:06 > 0:22:09'Just go and find Harry for me, please, Becks. Hello, switchboard?
0:22:09 > 0:22:11'Tess Bateman, ED sister.
0:22:11 > 0:22:12'I'm invoking the Maj-X..'
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Look at those bags! Demand feeding!
0:22:16 > 0:22:18'Will you keep your voice down, please?'
0:22:20 > 0:22:21And there's Charlie, of course,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24who's been in it as well for a very long time. Yeah.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27That was the storyline with the big train crash,
0:22:27 > 0:22:32and voted the most popular Casualty episode of all time by viewers.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Gosh! And it was your first day. That was it.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38But you know, Sian, in terms...
0:22:38 > 0:22:43I think if I wasn't so tired and my whole world was in such a maelstrom,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45I would have been more nervous.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47When I look at it now, I think, my God,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51that's a really big drama on BBC Saturday night. Yeah.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Which I don't think I appreciated at the time.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58I suppose it's not surprising that things were a little shaky
0:22:58 > 0:23:01between you and Jesse, as well, at this point. Yeah.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03That's quite hard to maintain.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05There were were a lot of cracks in the relationship before,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09but I think this period absolutely sealed it.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13I was home, I was with my family and that gave me a lot of strength
0:23:13 > 0:23:16to know that, actually, it wasn't healthy, our relationship,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18we weren't enjoying each other.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20And how old's Paris at this point?
0:23:20 > 0:23:24When I started Casualty he was three and a half months.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25Was he on set then?
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Well... Oh, my poor mother, goodness gracious.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31She didn't know that when she retired from nursing
0:23:31 > 0:23:34she'd be taking up a second career as a childminder.
0:23:34 > 0:23:35Bless her, she would come with me,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38she would be in the dressing room with Paris.
0:23:40 > 0:23:41(Oh, bless.)
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Would you ever bring your script to her?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47While she's got this role as a child carer,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49she also, of course, was a nursing sister.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Yes, she was my chief medical adviser. Was she?
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Yes, certainly at the beginning, because there were all these
0:23:56 > 0:23:59weird words and I'd say, "What's this, Mam, what's this?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02"What do you do with this? Is that realistic if I did this?"
0:24:02 > 0:24:04My mum was an intensive care nurse
0:24:04 > 0:24:07and she loved watching Casualty because she'd say,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09"No, you see, we wouldn't do that,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12"there's no way we would have given drugs like that."
0:24:12 > 0:24:15She'd spend the whole time picking holes in it, the whole time.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17It was unbearable to watch.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Absolutely. I don't tend to watch...
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Does she watch you? My mum watches every week.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Yeah, which I'm always surprised about,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26but I'm not with her on a Saturday night,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28so I generally don't know how she...
0:24:28 > 0:24:32I'll have to ask my dad if he can watch it uninterrupted.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34It wasn't the first time you were in Casualty, though.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Because you were in it as a...
0:24:36 > 0:24:41Well, you had a smaller part in one of the episodes.
0:24:41 > 0:24:42Oh, my goodness.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45I have more of a vivid memory of this
0:24:45 > 0:24:47than I do of my very first episode where I was Tess.
0:24:49 > 0:24:50I was a drugs mule.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53THEY LAUGH
0:24:55 > 0:24:57It's not the only time you've been put at risk in Casualty.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01I'm going to show you something that's pretty gruesome here.
0:25:01 > 0:25:07You appear to be balancing on a steel pole. Is that right? Yeah.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I was... Oh, my goodness, that's so vicious, isn't it,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12when you look at it?
0:25:12 > 0:25:16I was told originally that there wasn't going to be a gap,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19a visible gap, between my back and the rubble,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22but it didn't turn out that way, I don't think.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24I think there's quite a gap.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28So, basically, I had to support my own weight,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32and the hardest part to support was my neck,
0:25:32 > 0:25:37because I had to strain my neck so much to keep it without lolling back.
0:25:37 > 0:25:38Oh, that wasn't easy.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43I get a bit of buzz when I see, oh, Tess is somewhere else
0:25:43 > 0:25:44outside of...
0:25:44 > 0:25:49And technically that was a stunt, when I had to fall and land.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Just doing something a bit more physical just breaks it up
0:25:53 > 0:25:57and it is, it's exciting to do, so I do tend to...
0:25:57 > 0:26:02And that physicality and excitement and being away from the hospital
0:26:02 > 0:26:05is something you're filming at the moment? Yes.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Oh, give me a hint.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Well, it's got something to do with a train,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and I think that's all I can say.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Oh, you're a tease!
0:26:15 > 0:26:18I have to say that, listening to you over the years,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21you started off quite Cardiff. Yes.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23I just noticed that there.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25I wasn't as conscious of it until, funnily enough,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28I noticed that very, very first scene,
0:26:28 > 0:26:29when I took the phone.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33That's interesting, cos I know that you as a person
0:26:33 > 0:26:36have become more Welsh, if I can say that,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40and more associated with your own culture and identity.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45Yes, yes. Because we met, what, nearly 10 years ago...
0:26:45 > 0:26:47(Is it that long?)
0:26:47 > 0:26:50..when we both undertook a challenge,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52which was to learn Welsh.
0:26:52 > 0:26:53SHE LAUGHS
0:26:55 > 0:26:57And you did very well.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59SINGING
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Oh, we did! We sang!
0:27:02 > 0:27:04I forgot that bit, that was our first challenge!
0:27:04 > 0:27:08We sang the Welsh national anthem. We did.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Are you on this? I hope not!
0:27:11 > 0:27:14There you are! There we go!
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Oh, Gosh. That's right.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20You've got a fine voice, though.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23I was really intimidated, I was standing next to...
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Never! Yes, I was! Oh, my goodness, that was such good fun.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29I'm singing the Welsh national anthem thinking, "Listen to her!"
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Can you remember the words still? I can. Do you?
0:27:31 > 0:27:33I don't think so, I'd have to get...
0:27:33 > 0:27:35# Mae hen wlad fy...
0:27:36 > 0:27:38# ..annwyl i mi... #
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Is that right? Yes! You've got the voice,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42I don't have the voice. Oh, God, Oh, God.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Have you kept it up?
0:27:46 > 0:27:48To a degree, I have.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52It's slightly hard for me not to, because my son
0:27:52 > 0:27:54is in Welsh language school, Welsh medium school,
0:27:54 > 0:27:59so I hear Welsh a lot, obviously when I go pick him up, etc.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Especially now, the BBC of course, Casualty is in Wales,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04so I get a lot of opportunities
0:28:04 > 0:28:07because the guest artists and the storylines,
0:28:07 > 0:28:08there's so many Welsh...
0:28:08 > 0:28:11The pool of actors are coming from the Welsh pool,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14so you're hearing it all the time.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18Well, I'm sure whatever you do, whether it's a musical
0:28:18 > 0:28:20or whether it's going back to teaching
0:28:20 > 0:28:23or whether it is staying in Casualty for very many years,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26you will be a huge success at it, as you have been already.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28It's been a real pleasure to talk to you.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30Thank you very much, it's been really lovely.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Diolch yn fawr.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Croeso! Diolch yn fawr.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36And there it stops.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38THEY LAUGH
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Thank you, Suzanne. Excellent. Ardderchog.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Stop it! Now you're just showing off!
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Now I'm showing off! Laa!