Kellie Bright
Plays
Cassie Tyler
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER.
She is a female version of a City wide-boy, with lots of money, and a big gob. She’s very confident, she’s very warm, very popular. She’s a bit of a party girl; she doesn’t look too far ahead into the future. She lives day by day.
WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE STARTING WORK ON BAD GIRLS?
I watched the first three series quite avidly, so it was strange meeting cast members that I associated so much with character names. I’m an actress for God’s sake but I still couldn’t get used to calling people by their real names. It’s not daunting in a horrible way, but I’d never come into something established before. It was a bit like being the new girl at school, but that went within the first week.
The other long-running series I’ve done was the Upper Hand which was a long time ago now. It was a much smaller cast, and it was a comedy. The format was very different, obviously we had five days’ rehearsal, and then we recorded in front of a live audience. Also I started that at the beginning, so we were all in the same boat. Whereas coming into this, there are some people that have been with it since day one. It’s only the pressure that you put yourself under, but you want to be good, you don’t anyone to think you’re rubbish. Also working with different directors, that’s all new to me. I quite like it, the different directors bring in different ideas, and a fresh outlook on things.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER?
I think I like the easiness she has about her sexuality. It’s not what she’s about, it’s just what she is, the fact that she’s lesbian. She’s nothing atypical about her though, she gets on well with men as well as women, it’s just her sexuality. It’s not reflected in any stereotypical way in the way she looks or the clothes that she wears, and that I think is much more true to society than having someone with a short haircut and dungarees. I like that, and I like her strength of character, her willpower. She’s a working class girl who’s worked her way up in the business world, and she’s secured herself a very good job with a very good salary. There’s also the way she copes with whatever life throws at her, for instance the way that she copes with prison very well. Although I think she’s not as strong as she pretends to be, she has an amazing way of turning things around and looking at the positive rather than the negative.
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER?
I think perhaps her lack of willingness to settle down in any way. She’s not very good at getting in touch with her feelings. Emotionally she’s not very forthcoming, she covers up her feelings by pretending to this strong character, she doesn’t actually face up to how she’s feeling, or how she feels about others. She just can’t express that very well.
AND WHAT ABOUT HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ROISIN?
Roisin (Siobhan McCarthy) is an accessory… Cassie gets done for fraud, pleads guilty and gets three years. Roisin covered up for Cassie, completely of her own free will, but pleads not guilty at the trial. Although she didn’t see any of the money, and wasn’t involved in the crime directly, because she pleads not guilty she gets a longer sentence. She’s married with two children and Cassie has been having an affair with her for two or three months. Their relationship is rocky from the moment you first meet them – by that time the honeymoon period is well and truly over in that Cassie doesn’t take it as seriously as Roisin does. Roisin has got a lot more at stake, and she’s never had a gay relationship before. Cassie really does care about Roisin, but she doesn’t walk around whispering sweet nothings in her ear. She thinks about the here and now and that’s it.
DO YOU LIKE THE COSTUMES THAT YOUR CHARACTER WEARS? WOULD YOU WEAR THEM OUT?
It’s not particularly me, but I think they’re right for Cassie. I get to wear some nice designer labels, and I think this is the first job I’ve ever had where I’ve had those. The one thing I fell in love with was the Paul Smith suit I wear when I first come in. The costume designer just came out with it and it was absolutely amazing, such a beautiful fit. I would definitely wear that. Other than that, they’re not really my thing. Some of the more casual stuff, the jeans, things like that I’d wear. I’m into jeans and sneakers, that kind of thing. I like to be comfortable in what I wear. I like to dress up as well, but I think it’s important to be comfortable. I actually like wearing all sorts of clothes, because I think they can reflect your mood at the time.
When they offered me the part, they said two things – one was ‘Would you cut your hair?’ to which I said ‘OK’ and the other was ‘Would you work out?’ So I said ‘Yeah… but what’s wrong with the way I look?!’ They wanted her to look quite fit and sassy and sexy which is fine. I normally do work out anyway, but the thing was, the job I’d done before this, they’d asked me not to go to gym. That was the Ali G film. So I’d consequently not worked out for three months. I didn’t look that different, I’m just now more toned than I was. It’s actually quite good to have something said to you like that, because it does give you the motivation to go. And having my hair cut was initially like ‘Oh my God, where’s all my hair gone?’ but now I really like it and I’ll probably keep it. It’s just nice to change your appearance in some way to differentiate between characters that you’ve done.
ARE YOU LIKE YOUR CHARACTER? ANY TRAITS THAT YOU SHARE?
I like to think that I’m quite an independent person, and I think that Cassie is. I try to live day by day and moment by moment, but I do plan ahead a bit more than Cassie does. I’d like to think that I was fairly intellectual, or at least a little bit bright, but in a very different way to Cassie. I’m not business-minded at all whereas she is, and she’s very much into material things and money, and I’m not. I’m much more into security in my life and my home comforts.
WHAT SCENE HAVE YOU MOST ENJOYED OR HATED FILMING SO FAR?
My favourite scene has got to be the one with Fenner in his office. Just because she thought that she’d be really feisty and really give it back to him, and he just throws it all back in her face – and it was nice just to have a change of scenery having been in a cell for five weeks. And I think Jack’s a great actor, really easy to work with. I can’t think of any that I’ve really hated. Possibly my first scene, just because it was my first scene and I thought I’d be really crap in it.
WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREETIME?
I go through different phases of doing things… one week I’m going to write a script, and the next week I’m making jewellery… I spend a lot of time with friends and family and my boyfriend [actor Ross McCall]. I like going out to dinner, out drinking. I do enjoy going to the gym. I’ve also started writing various bits and pieces but nothing’s finished. Drama mostly, various bits of plays. I would really like to pursue that. I’m a bit lacking in certain areas, I’ve got the ideas, but I haven’t got the discipline to sit down at home and get on with it. And I like walking my dog, a very old mongrel. I’ve had him since he was a baby, and he’s now 14 and a half.
HOW WOULD YOU GET ON WITH YOUR CHARACTER IF YOU MET THEM IN REAL LIFE?
Yes, I think I would, but only in certain situations. She’d be a good person to have around socially, but I’m not sure that she would be the sort of person I would phone if I was going through a bit of a personal trauma or something. I wouldn’t think ‘I’ll speak to Cassie, she’ll understand…’
WHAT’S THE WORST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?
Well I love the idea of being naughty, but I’m too much of a good girl really. Lots of my friends call me Monica, because I’m like Monica in Friends. I’m not that anal, but I like things to be organised.
WHAT’S THE BEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?
Pursuing my dreams. Not giving up, or settling for things. Saying ‘I’m going to make this work, and give it my best.’
Kellie Bright appeared throughout her teenage years as Joanna in the long-running ITV sitcom The Upper Hand, and her voice is familiar to millions of radio listeners as The Archers’ Kate Aldridge. She is also about to appear as ‘Me Julie’ in the forthcoming film Ali G In Da House.