Sarah Lancashire earned a Bafta for her performance in Last Tango In Halifax so it's little wonder she's excited to be back for series two. Susan Griffin visits the actress on set to discuss the show's success, her gay following and whether she'll ever escape that Corrie tag Sarah Lancashire is sitting at the table in a set resembling the interior of a cottage.
Camera operators and lighting technicians bark orders at one another, while a woman from wardrobe constantly fiddles with the collar of Lancashire's shirt. Amid all this hustle and bustle, the actress remains absolutely still, her head lowered.
Finally a hush descends. "Action" is yelled, and a moving scene between Lancashire and her co-star Nicola Walker plays out for the umpteenth time. As soon as "That's a wrap," is called, the previously morose-looking actress lifts her head and grins. "Sorry if I was being a bit actor-y then, it just helps me to be quiet," she says.
The scene marks the end of the shoot for Lancashire, who for the last few months has been filming the much-anticipated second series of Last Tango In halifax. "The schedule's demanding but it's not a hardship, because it's so stimulating, and as an actor you wait an entire career to be involved in a project like this," says the Lancashire-born star, who's now settled and sucking a sweet.
The romantic drama follows former childhood sweethearts Alan and Celia, played by Sir Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid, as they embark on a relationship after reuniting in their seventies - as well as the troubled goings on of Celia's daughter Caroline (Lancashire) and alan's daughter Gillian (Walker).
It would be easy to underestimate the series, given its gentle-sounding premise, but it's as dark as it is comic and proved a huge hit with critics and viewers when it was shown late last year. "People have absolutely taken it to heart and love the fact that it's a romance essentially about older people, which is something we've shamefully had to wait a very long time for," says Lancashire (49).
"It doesn't surprise me because we can all relate to a multi-generational family."
She stresses that its success starts and ends with the Bafta-nominated television writer and playwright Sally Wainwright, saying: "We're very blessed to be involved with one of her projects."
But, just as musicians can feel trepidation ahead of a second album release, the actress wonders what the reaction will be to this follow-up. "I suppose people have expectations of what they think the series is now, and invariably you hope you're not going to disappoint, but I don't think people will be [disappointed]. It's absolutely terrific stuff."
It's why it was "the easiest decision of my professional life" to agree to return. "We're a real company of actors and we more than get on, we care for each other," she says, adding that she relished every moment playing the depressed, Oxbridge-educated Caroline, a role that earned her a Bafta nomination earlier this year.
In the first series, viewers witnessed the headmistress attempt to cope with her adulterous husband, as well as the repercussions of her own affair with Kate, a female colleague. "The nature of the role I play has clearly hit a nerve with a lot of people," she says. "They haven't seen that nature of a relationship portrayed or written in such a sensitive manner. It's not there to shock, it was really beautifully done." As the series isn't filmed chronologically, Lancashire wasn't aware her character was gay until halfway through the production. "The director phoned me and said, 'I think you ought to know this'," she says. Was it a shock? "Yes, it was a huge shock," she laughs, though it didn't change how she approached the role. "I approach it as a human being, that's all. I don't look at her gender or sexuality," says Lancashire, who has a 10-year-old son with second husband, TV producer Peter Salmon, and two grown-up children from her first marriage. "I'm straight, but it's immaterial, surely, what your sexuality is. Isn't it really about being a fulfilled human being? I think that's what Sally's captured so brilliantly."
She notes that some of the scenes between Caroline and Kate are "absolutely heartbreaking". "I can entirely relate to that, because it's about human emotion. Love is love," she says. "It doesn't matter about sexuality, but about how you feel towards somebody else, and being kind and good and honest with them."
That said, Caroline "isn't out and proud". Lancashire explains: "All the way through the second series, it's very much a clandestine relationship in that she hasn't quite found the courage to just step out of the closet and go, 'Here I am, and this is me'."
It's left to Kate to try and help her find the confidence. "It's interesting. You think Caroline has the upper hand in most things, because she has that arrogance but, interestingly, a lot of guidance comes from Kate. "Caroline's that fantastic mix of someone who has to put on this overcoat and scaffolding when she goes to work, and then in her private life there are moments that are too much for even her to deal with."
The character's journey is pure Wainwright. "That's the beauty of Sally's writing, that you can be in the depths of despair and she'll suddenly just twist it on its head, and you're there smiling."
After the first series, Lancashire received a raft of fan mail from women who've found themselves in similar circumstances. "There was one lady who made her mum sit down and watch the entire series and then came out to her. I thought, 'Wow, what a lovely thing that we managed to make someone's transition easier'. "You don't always realise the impact you have on people's lives. You think, 'I'm an actor, I don't think I'm doing anything particularly important in life', and then for a fleeting moment you suddenly realise you did make a difference.
You did have an impact."
Last Tango marks a departure for the actress, whose most recent projects have been period dramas (Lark Rise To Candleford, The Paradise and Upstairs Downstairs). "The lovely thing about Last Tango is that you don't have to hold back. You can bare your entire soul because it's a contemporary piece, and Sally gives you a lot to work with," she says.
Lancashire has also starred in the likes of Where The Heart Is, Clocking Off and Rose And Maloney since leaving Coronation Street in 1996.
But, despite her packed CV, to some viewers she'll always be dippy barmaid Raquel, who made a very brief reappearance on the cobbles in 2000. Will she ever shake the Corrie tag? "I've escaped it - it's everyone has else who hasn't," says the actress. "It was fun and I loved the character, but I think that you have to literally move on from something if you intend to have a career beyond it."
She recalls likening leaving the Street to jumping off a bridge at midnight. "And it was, because I didn't know how it was going to affect me," says Lancashire, who'd never attest to being ambitious. "Well, I'm ambitious to provide for my family, and if that means I work, I work," she says. "Acting's only part of my life.
I'm a mum and wife and daughter. But I'm very grateful that I'm still continuing to do a career I love."
* The second series of Last Tango In Halifax begins on BBC One tomorrow.
* Sarah Lancashire was born on October 10 1964, in Oldham, Lancashire.
Her father, television writer Geoffrey, wrote hundreds of episodes of Coronation Street. n She graduated from the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama in 1986. n In 2000, she reportedly signed a deal worth over £1 million that made her one of the highest-paid actors.
* In 2005, she joined the West End cast of Guys And Dolls opposite Nigel Harman.
* The same year she was nominated for a television Bafta for her directorial debut The Afternoon Play.