SHERIDAN Smith is making waves these days – and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The 33-year-old appeared in Lifetime’s Cilla TV series and delivered such a performance that she bagged a Bafta nomination. Now she is in ITV Choice’s Black Work, playing, for the first time, a police officer.
As police constable Jo Gillespie, she has a little girl, Melly, and a stepson, Hal, 16.
Smith has, in her many roles to date, proved quite adept at slipping into the skin of any character. And she does so with remarkable conviction.
Black Work piqued her curiosity because it was such a multi-dimensional character; one that was both vulnerable and strong.
She says: “The writer, Matt Charman, got in touch with me, explained the premise and why he wanted me to play Jo Gillespie. She has two worlds: her family life and then her police family. Jo is strong and tough, but goes through so much turmoil and mental torment. It was different to anything I’ve done before.”
While Jo seems to have it all: perfect life, perfect family and perfect job… it’s anything but perfect.
And those cracks become more apparent when her undercover husband Ryan is murdered.
Smith shares: “There’s a strain on their relationship; evident right from the start. Ryan has been working away three days a week training CID officers. At least, that’s what Jo thinks. In fact, he has been undercover on a secret special investigation. Jo and Ryan haven’t been spending a lot of time together and hardly talk anymore. He’s a closed book and she’s become guarded and conflicted. But they adore their children.”
In the interim, Jo has become close to Jack Clark (Ryan’s best friend). Both their kids attend the same swimming class. Let’s just say they bonded over their similar marital woes.
So when everything goes topsy-turvy, Jo does what she does best – investigate.
She reveals: “Jo thinks she knows Ryan and then her world falls apart. She trusted the police force to look after its own family and now she’s not sure of anything. Jo is finding out all this information about somebody she thought she knew everything about. Turns out, she does not. She doesn’t know who to trust or turn to and fears for her family. But she is figuring it out as she goes along. It’s a psychological thriller and a whodunit, with so many twists and turns that you really don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Although Smith loves to glean as much knowledge as she can about her characters, with this one she had to rely more on the script and her director.
She admits: “When you are playing someone like Cilla, you get all these research packs. I watched all the interviews of Cilla, from the 1960s and so on. Of course, with this, you can’t just go into a police station and say: ‘Can I watch what you are doing?’ But I got enough information to know where to pitch my performance as far as what it is like being in the force.”
While she is stealing the hearts of fans with her performances, it seems she had a few in the royal family too – she was recently at Buckingham Palace to receive her OBE from Prince William.
She enthuses: “I was very surprised and honoured to be awarded the OBE. I still can’t believe it. I went with my mum, dad and brother. It was a wonderful day. I had been at the palace before and met the queen. That was for the National Youth Music Theatre. Prince William was lovely. He said he had seen some of my roles and that he likes Gavin and Stacey. He asked what I was doing and I explained that I was shooting The Huntsman, which is a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, and that I was playing a dwarf. It was a magical day.”
Talking about unforgettable, Smith seems to be manifesting that in her roles too.
l Black Work airs on ITV Choice (DStv channel 123) tonight at 9.55pm.