Coronation Street's Sue Cleaver explains struggle with soap fame
Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver has revealed that she initially struggled with the fame that her soap role brought her, saying that she was "really terrified" when she was first recognised.
Having first arrived on the cobbles as matriarch Eileen Grimshaw in 2000, before going on to be involved in major stories including marrying serial killer Pat Phelan, the actress has become a much-loved fixture of Weatherfield.
However, Cleaver explained during an appearance on Sunday Brunch on March 10 that she didn't feel ready for her life to change so drastically after she first began working on the soap.
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"I don't think I was prepared. I mean, they do talk to you when you go in," she told hosts Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer. "When I went in, TV was a very different world. You couldn't walk down the street."
The actress added that being recognised was the part of her job that she "struggled with for a long time" and found "very daunting".
"I didn't feel comfortable with it," she said, adding: "Now, a lot of people now just want to be famous, so it's a very different world and it's still one I don't quite understand."
The star revealed that she panicked when she was first recognised in public, saying: "I would admit that in the early days, somebody came up to me and I kind of froze! I was like, 'What do you want, don't speak to me, what do you want?!' It really terrified me! It took a while."
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Thankfully, Cleaver said that her fans have always been "very kind" when they approach her, and she believes that Eileen's character has a lot to do with the positive reception.
"I've always said that Eileen is every woman," she said. "Everybody knows an Eileen and everybody just sees themselves in her and all the struggles she's had with her sons. I mean, maybe not so much the serial killers! But yeah, she's very accessible, everybody recognises Eileen."
The actress is currently taking a short break from the cobbles to join the touring stage production of musical Sister Act, in which she will play Mother Superior, and she revealed on Sunday Brunch that she's experienced a tight turnaround in getting prepared for the role.
"I've literally had this week to rehearse and I join this week [in Brighton]," she said, "so it's been a very, very quick turnaround."
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Eileen is currently involved in the ongoing bullying storyline, after discovering last week that Dylan Wilson had hidden Mason Radcliffe's zombie knife in her home.
Horrified Eileen told Dylan's dad Sean Tully that the pair will now need to find somewhere else to live, although she will begin to experience some feelings of guilt this week as Sean desperately searches for a new home.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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