Susan Tully

"Michelle Fowler"

Interviewed by Dan Abramson (Volume 2, Issue 1)

On her family life outside of EastEnders:

"The two areas responsible for maintaining my sanity are family and friends. My family still lives on the same Council estate where I grew up and the friends I have picked up along the way. I have given strict instructions to my nearest and dearest to slap me down severely if I'm not behaving."

On Samantha Leigh Martin, who plays Michelle's daughter Vicky:

"She's so brilliant and natural, and such a lovely kid. It makes life so easy. Her background is not in theatre and her parents are down-to-earth with no pretensions. Samantha does take her acting seriously and knows where the cameras and boom mikes are. But you can't force kids to 'act.' You have to make a game of it or they'd be like little robots."

On Michelle's favourite singer or movie star:

"I couldn't tell you that. There's a serious Method involved here. I've been doing this for nine years and on average, 'Chell appears in 70 or 80 shows per year... If I had some sort of written character break down of what Michelle is all about that would put her in a corner and prevent further growth. There would be no challenge left. That doesn't make for drama. I mean who cares who's her favourite actor."

On who's Susan Tully's favourite actors:

"Beryl Reid. She's one of the great British actors, mostly in TV and radio. As far as the Americans, the naturalists: like Pacino and DeNiro."

On whether EastEnders is like real life in London's East End:

"Everyone has their own definition of real life. Obviously, a show this popular has a responsibility to try to reflect real life in a balanced and responsible way-while also trying to be entertaining-because it goes out in the early evenings on the BBC. I have to say though that the female characters are very strong. They are not portrayed as victims or stereotypes."

On the creative process interacting with other actors:

"You never know how they're going to do a scene. And I can assure you, that's not boring. I've been in so many scenarios with Bill (Treacher) and Wendy (Richard). They've had much more experience in the business than I have and they've brought new things to many situations. We've had to talk a lot about our scenes in the time we're given. Let's say a three or four-page scene. We may have five or ten minutes per page to rehearse it two or three times before we start to shoot. And the retakes we do are usually for technical problems, not performance problems. So there's a bit of pressure. It's only on the floor, in front of the camera, that these scenes come to life."

On what she watches other than EastEnders:

"I'm a big fan of Cheers. And I enjoy comic satire, Monty Python-type shows like Have I Got News For You! I also watch Coronation Street and Brookside, just to see what the competition's up to."

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