It's Such Fun Playing a Baddie

TV soap star, Michelle Collins, has swapped Walford and Weatherfield for the stage.

- Richard Barbar

So, Michelle Collins, when was the last time someone called you Cindy? She throws back her ash-blonde hair and laughs that throaty laugh. ‘Today!’ she says. ‘And yet, I last played Cindy Beale in EastEnders in 1998. When I was in panto over Christmas, they insisted on inserting Cindy references into the script. She just won’t go away.’

But while she may be mystified by the enduring appeal of her small-screen creation, Michelle’s not complaining. ‘I was 26 when I first started playing her and 36 when she was finally killed off. So Cindy was a major part of my life at a time when the show was attracting huge audiences. It felt like I lived with her 24:7. I couldn’t sneeze without being in the papers. In the end, I had to move on for my own sanity.’

That said, Michelle can’t help loving bad girl Cindy. ‘Not bad,’ she corrects me, eyes twinkling, ‘just misunderstood. Actually, I think she was a bit ahead of her time. Up until then, most TV villains were played by men. I’m proud of her.’

Appearing in a top-rated soap can’t have been too traumatic an experience because, more recently, Michelle played Stella Price (latterly Munro), landlady of the Rovers Return for three years in Corrie. ‘There was a lot of pressure on me when I took that role. I was from down south and had to play it with a northern accent which attracted a lot of criticism, to an unfair degree, in my opinion. I found it tough.

‘Eventually, I think viewers came to love the character. And a lot of people were sad when she left Weather field. I still get letters asking me whether Stella will ever return to the Rovers.’ And would she? ‘Never say never, although one of the reasons I left was because I didn’t want to be seen only as a soap actress.’