A WOMAN SCORNED

The actor's ubiquitous true-story dramas have become a punchline, but Sheridan Smith's latest performance proves she's one of our brightest stars, writes Katie Rosseinsky

- By Katie Rosseinsky

“Can’t wait for the inevitable three-part drama starring Sheridan Smith.” This tends to be the refrain on social media whenever something remotely newsworthy happens in Great Britain: if it’s a gripping story, or so our collective thinking goes, then it’s surely only a matter of time before ITV has snapped up the rights and cast Our Sheridan in the lead role.

Over the past few years, it's become a full-blown meme, with online wits editing Smith's face onto the body of various real-life figures (Holly Willoughby! Captain Tom's daughter! Liz Truss!) in a sort of demented fan cast. Last year, it all got a bit out of hand when This Morning talking head Gyles Brandreth (incorrectly) announced that ITV had signed up Smith to play Kate Middleton in a series called The Lost Princess, based on some not entirely convincing tweets.

The joke, of course, comes from a good place. It's not just Smith's ubiquity that makes her so meme-able, but the fact that she probably could pull off the vast majority of the unhinged roles she's been "cast" in by the British public, and reduce us all to tears while doing so. And the 44-year-old has taken it all in her stride. "I love them, keep them coming, they make me laugh so much," she told Capital Breakfast last week. How refreshing: an actor who doesn't take herself particularly seriously, while continuing to turn in great work.