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| Sheridan Smith struggles with mounting acclaim over Cilla portrayal | Sheridan Smith struggles with mounting acclaim over Cilla portrayal |
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| 'I knew you were good," says Bobby Willis, the man who would later become Cilla Black's husband after he watches her singing on stage with a young band called the Beatles, "but not that good!" The same is still being said of Sheridan Smith, who plays the Liverpudlian singer in Cilla, ITV's current biopic, but after a run of stellar performances over the last few years, there shouldn't really be anyone left in doubt of her talent. Though, to read interviews with the 33-year-old actor and the anxious postings on her Twitter feed, Smith's biggest doubter seems to be herself. | 'I knew you were good," says Bobby Willis, the man who would later become Cilla Black's husband after he watches her singing on stage with a young band called the Beatles, "but not that good!" The same is still being said of Sheridan Smith, who plays the Liverpudlian singer in Cilla, ITV's current biopic, but after a run of stellar performances over the last few years, there shouldn't really be anyone left in doubt of her talent. Though, to read interviews with the 33-year-old actor and the anxious postings on her Twitter feed, Smith's biggest doubter seems to be herself. |
| The reviews have certainly been full of praise. "It's one of those extraordinary performances," wrote Sam Wollaston in this paper, "when an actor does more than play a real character; she becomes her, to the extent that it's hard for the viewer not to forget they're not actually watching a young Cilla Black." The Telegraph noted Smith's "killer combination of warmth, mischievousness and vulnerability". | The reviews have certainly been full of praise. "It's one of those extraordinary performances," wrote Sam Wollaston in this paper, "when an actor does more than play a real character; she becomes her, to the extent that it's hard for the viewer not to forget they're not actually watching a young Cilla Black." The Telegraph noted Smith's "killer combination of warmth, mischievousness and vulnerability". |
| Jeff Pope, who wrote Cilla, had worked with Smith before on the 2012 TV drama Mrs Biggs, in which she played the wife of the train robber Ronnie Biggs (he has also recently hinted that Smith would play Shannon Matthews's mother, who was jailed for her part in the hoax kidnap of her daughter, for which he is writing the screenplay). When he was casting Mrs Biggs, he had another actor in mind, but when Smith auditioned – the last one of the day – he says he could remember the excitement. "We thanked her and off she went, and myself and the producer and director just knew right away." | Jeff Pope, who wrote Cilla, had worked with Smith before on the 2012 TV drama Mrs Biggs, in which she played the wife of the train robber Ronnie Biggs (he has also recently hinted that Smith would play Shannon Matthews's mother, who was jailed for her part in the hoax kidnap of her daughter, for which he is writing the screenplay). When he was casting Mrs Biggs, he had another actor in mind, but when Smith auditioned – the last one of the day – he says he could remember the excitement. "We thanked her and off she went, and myself and the producer and director just knew right away." |
| So when Pope wrote Cilla, he had Smith in mind. "It liberates you because there's nothing I knew I couldn't throw at her," he says, though he admits he was unsure if she could manage the singing convincingly. "[That] was the thing that was scaring me because I was thinking it could all fall apart. She went away and spent six months working on her voice, in between other jobs, and it was just … like everything else, she's just a complete natural. The single most interesting thing in watching her work is how instinctive it is." | So when Pope wrote Cilla, he had Smith in mind. "It liberates you because there's nothing I knew I couldn't throw at her," he says, though he admits he was unsure if she could manage the singing convincingly. "[That] was the thing that was scaring me because I was thinking it could all fall apart. She went away and spent six months working on her voice, in between other jobs, and it was just … like everything else, she's just a complete natural. The single most interesting thing in watching her work is how instinctive it is." |
| Pope traces it back to Smith's childhood. Her first performances were with her parents' country and western duo as they played the clubs near their Lincolnshire home (and still do). They performed most nights every week and, in the clubs that allowed children, Sheridan and her two brothers went with them. "When I was four I joined them on stage doing little dance routines," she has said. "It wasn't long before I was standing on a stool joining in the singing." | Pope traces it back to Smith's childhood. Her first performances were with her parents' country and western duo as they played the clubs near their Lincolnshire home (and still do). They performed most nights every week and, in the clubs that allowed children, Sheridan and her two brothers went with them. "When I was four I joined them on stage doing little dance routines," she has said. "It wasn't long before I was standing on a stool joining in the singing." |
| When Smith was eight, her elder brother Julian died of cancer. She has said she found an outlet for the trauma in the dance classes in Scunthorpe she attended and the competitions she entered: "They were my focus. It's not that they stopped me grieving, but my life became about trying to do something." | When Smith was eight, her elder brother Julian died of cancer. She has said she found an outlet for the trauma in the dance classes in Scunthorpe she attended and the competitions she entered: "They were my focus. It's not that they stopped me grieving, but my life became about trying to do something." |
| It was her drama teacher at secondary school who encouraged Smith to audition for the National Youth Music Theatre. She starred as Tallulah in their production of Bugsy Malone; when it transferred to the West End, Smith was signed by an agent and at 16 she moved to London, sharing a two-bedroom flat with five others. An early job was in the Sondheim musical Into the Woods at the Donmar Warehouse – an amazing opportunity for a young actor to perform at the fashionable theatre. "I had never heard of [it]," Smith said in an interview last year. "I thought it was just like a big warehouse." Smith often jokes about her own naivety: she once confessed she thought "RP" stood for "right posh" and has said "I certainly never get above my station, my family would soon slap me back down to earth". | |
| One of her first television roles was in the Royle Family, playing Anthony's girlfriend, followed by the sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, about a group of twentysomethings. A steady stream of other roles followed, but they all seemed similar: a con artist in Benidorm, as Smithy's sister in Gavin & Stacey; "slappers and chavs", as Smith once put it, adding that "although it was great, you can get typecast". But her career was about to move into other areas. | One of her first television roles was in the Royle Family, playing Anthony's girlfriend, followed by the sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, about a group of twentysomethings. A steady stream of other roles followed, but they all seemed similar: a con artist in Benidorm, as Smithy's sister in Gavin & Stacey; "slappers and chavs", as Smith once put it, adding that "although it was great, you can get typecast". But her career was about to move into other areas. |
| Little did she know that when she performed a number from her role in the musical Little Shop of Horrors at the Olivier awards in 2008, that she had just landed herself the lead in Legally Blonde. After the success of his Broadway production of the 2002 film, Jerry Mitchell, the director and choreographer, was planning to do a West End version. "She came out on stage," he says, "and I went 'oh my god, I think I've just found my Elle [Woods, the lead character]'." What did he like about her? "Her vulnerability," he says instantly. | Little did she know that when she performed a number from her role in the musical Little Shop of Horrors at the Olivier awards in 2008, that she had just landed herself the lead in Legally Blonde. After the success of his Broadway production of the 2002 film, Jerry Mitchell, the director and choreographer, was planning to do a West End version. "She came out on stage," he says, "and I went 'oh my god, I think I've just found my Elle [Woods, the lead character]'." What did he like about her? "Her vulnerability," he says instantly. |
| The role won Smith an Olivier award in 2011, and her next job saw her pick up another. It was while she was on holiday with her family at the end of her Legally Blonde run that she received a text from Trevor Nunn, offering her a part in his revival of Terence Rattigan's play Flare Path. She thought it was a friend playing a prank, but Nunn had already sent a script to Smith's agent. She cut her holiday short to start rehearsals. | The role won Smith an Olivier award in 2011, and her next job saw her pick up another. It was while she was on holiday with her family at the end of her Legally Blonde run that she received a text from Trevor Nunn, offering her a part in his revival of Terence Rattigan's play Flare Path. She thought it was a friend playing a prank, but Nunn had already sent a script to Smith's agent. She cut her holiday short to start rehearsals. |
| After musicals and comedy, playing Doris, a former barmaid who is married to an aristocratic Polish pilot, proved she could play it straight. She even had a backstage visit from Dustin Hoffman, who promptly cast her in his directorial debut film Quartet, in which she played a young doctor to a group of ageing opera singers (Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon among them; "I felt like curtseying every day," Smith said). | After musicals and comedy, playing Doris, a former barmaid who is married to an aristocratic Polish pilot, proved she could play it straight. She even had a backstage visit from Dustin Hoffman, who promptly cast her in his directorial debut film Quartet, in which she played a young doctor to a group of ageing opera singers (Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon among them; "I felt like curtseying every day," Smith said). |
| The parts kept rolling in – so much so, according to reports, that it was the reason she pulled out of the Bridget Jones musical because she didn't want to commit to another long-running show. Some roles were forgettable, such as her in the British film Tower Block, but others, such as her portrayal in Mrs Biggs, showed her depth (she won a best actress Bafta for it). But it was her next play that would push her further – she was cast in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, the role many female actors covet (and a good many more feel too daunted to even think about), at the Old Vic. | The parts kept rolling in – so much so, according to reports, that it was the reason she pulled out of the Bridget Jones musical because she didn't want to commit to another long-running show. Some roles were forgettable, such as her in the British film Tower Block, but others, such as her portrayal in Mrs Biggs, showed her depth (she won a best actress Bafta for it). But it was her next play that would push her further – she was cast in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, the role many female actors covet (and a good many more feel too daunted to even think about), at the Old Vic. |
| Ever the first to admit her shortcomings, Smith told one interviewer that she'd never heard of the play. "Isn't that awful? I mean, I knew it was a bit of a shock to people when I was cast. I knew that people were thinking it was going to be disastrous. But I also had people like Kevin Spacey [the Old Vic's artistic director] believing in me, so I pushed myself and I did it, you know? So at least I had a go." Having a go wasn't quite the description the critics used. Reviewing the play for the Observer, Susannah Clapp wrote: "Like many gifted actors she pulls off the apparently impossible: she makes detail dominate the stage." | Ever the first to admit her shortcomings, Smith told one interviewer that she'd never heard of the play. "Isn't that awful? I mean, I knew it was a bit of a shock to people when I was cast. I knew that people were thinking it was going to be disastrous. But I also had people like Kevin Spacey [the Old Vic's artistic director] believing in me, so I pushed myself and I did it, you know? So at least I had a go." Having a go wasn't quite the description the critics used. Reviewing the play for the Observer, Susannah Clapp wrote: "Like many gifted actors she pulls off the apparently impossible: she makes detail dominate the stage." |
| Mitchell describes her as "an animal of the theatre, even though she's doing film and television, she lives on stage. When she was in front of the audience, she was unstoppable". | Mitchell describes her as "an animal of the theatre, even though she's doing film and television, she lives on stage. When she was in front of the audience, she was unstoppable". |
| Michael Grandage, who directed Smith in his production last year of A Midsummer Night's Dream, says: "She takes her relationship with her audience very seriously. Sometimes you meet actors who go 'I'm not doing it for an audience, I'm doing it for me'. Sheridan feels a huge responsibility to the people who want to come and see her and she needs to deliver for them, and she wants to create new audiences for herself. She was probably the one who was more behind the access message – getting young people into the theatre – than virtually anybody." | Michael Grandage, who directed Smith in his production last year of A Midsummer Night's Dream, says: "She takes her relationship with her audience very seriously. Sometimes you meet actors who go 'I'm not doing it for an audience, I'm doing it for me'. Sheridan feels a huge responsibility to the people who want to come and see her and she needs to deliver for them, and she wants to create new audiences for herself. She was probably the one who was more behind the access message – getting young people into the theatre – than virtually anybody." |
| If she had a fear of Shakespeare, "she certainly didn't bring any of that to it. She just got on and did what she does. She's not interested in the dressing-up of a part, she doesn't want to add anything, she just wants to try and work out who the person is and then get as quickly as possible to the centre and inhabit it completely." | If she had a fear of Shakespeare, "she certainly didn't bring any of that to it. She just got on and did what she does. She's not interested in the dressing-up of a part, she doesn't want to add anything, she just wants to try and work out who the person is and then get as quickly as possible to the centre and inhabit it completely." |
| Despite the plaudits, a common theme that runs through interviews with Smith is her self-doubt, and a keen awareness that she isn't a drama school graduate. "When I'm working alongside someone like Dame Maggie Smith, I can't help thinking 'I don't deserve to be here.' You see these formally trained actors with scripts covered in writing, whereas mine will be covered in coffee stains and fag burns. I spend most of the time feeling like I'm totally blagging it." | Despite the plaudits, a common theme that runs through interviews with Smith is her self-doubt, and a keen awareness that she isn't a drama school graduate. "When I'm working alongside someone like Dame Maggie Smith, I can't help thinking 'I don't deserve to be here.' You see these formally trained actors with scripts covered in writing, whereas mine will be covered in coffee stains and fag burns. I spend most of the time feeling like I'm totally blagging it." |
| Jeff Pope says the self-doubt is genuine, not an actorly affectation or false modesty. "It's simultaneously a strength and a weakness. It's the thing that drives her on and makes her push herself harder and harder, and it's also the thing that causes her a lot of pain and grief because to constantly feel as if you're not up to something can't be nice, and yet it's absolutely part of her." | Jeff Pope says the self-doubt is genuine, not an actorly affectation or false modesty. "It's simultaneously a strength and a weakness. It's the thing that drives her on and makes her push herself harder and harder, and it's also the thing that causes her a lot of pain and grief because to constantly feel as if you're not up to something can't be nice, and yet it's absolutely part of her." |
| Jerry Mitchell says her insecurity is "probably what makes her so brilliant, and adds to that vulnerability and makes an actor watchable". | Jerry Mitchell says her insecurity is "probably what makes her so brilliant, and adds to that vulnerability and makes an actor watchable". |
| Smith has said the bigger the parts that come her way, the more she worries that "I'm going to get found out". But it hasn't happened yet – and it isn't looking likely. | Smith has said the bigger the parts that come her way, the more she worries that "I'm going to get found out". But it hasn't happened yet – and it isn't looking likely. |
| Potted profile | Potted profile |
| Born: 1981 in Epworth, Lincolnshire | Born: 1981 in Epworth, Lincolnshire |
| Career to date: appeared in the Royle Family, followed by parts in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Grownups, Gavin & Stacey and Jonathan Creek. Starred in Legally Blonde in the West End, then Flare Path and Hedda Gabler. Played the companion Lucie Miller in the radio series of Doctor Who. Her recent TV dramas include Mrs Biggs, the 7.39 and the Widower. Next to be seen in the C-Word and police thriller Black Work. | Career to date: appeared in the Royle Family, followed by parts in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Grownups, Gavin & Stacey and Jonathan Creek. Starred in Legally Blonde in the West End, then Flare Path and Hedda Gabler. Played the companion Lucie Miller in the radio series of Doctor Who. Her recent TV dramas include Mrs Biggs, the 7.39 and the Widower. Next to be seen in the C-Word and police thriller Black Work. |
| High point: a stellar 2012 in which she picked up an Olivier for Flare Path, and did Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic, Dustin Hoffman's film Quartet, and Mrs Biggs on ITV. | High point: a stellar 2012 in which she picked up an Olivier for Flare Path, and did Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic, Dustin Hoffman's film Quartet, and Mrs Biggs on ITV. |
| Low point: playing a chambermaid in a BBC drama when she was 18 and having her one line dubbed in post-production because she couldn't get the delivery right. | Low point: playing a chambermaid in a BBC drama when she was 18 and having her one line dubbed in post-production because she couldn't get the delivery right. |
| What she says: "Can I just say, then I'll shut up, but I am so overwhelmed by your lovely comments about Cilla! U made me bloody cry…so chuffed u enjoyed it" (Smith this week on Twitter, the day after the first episode of Cilla aired) | What she says: "Can I just say, then I'll shut up, but I am so overwhelmed by your lovely comments about Cilla! U made me bloody cry…so chuffed u enjoyed it" (Smith this week on Twitter, the day after the first episode of Cilla aired) |
| What others say: "Sheridan is a wonderful actress who has rightly received acclaim for her recent work" (Kevin Spacey, on Smith taking the role of Hedda Gabler) | What others say: "Sheridan is a wonderful actress who has rightly received acclaim for her recent work" (Kevin Spacey, on Smith taking the role of Hedda Gabler) |
| • This article was amended on 25 September 2014 to correct the name of the National Youth Music Theatre, from National Youth Theatre as an earlier version said. |