SUMMER STRALLEN PART TWO
Monday 18th February
Check out the second part of our interview with Summer Strallen as she tells all about her musical family, and what she'll miss about working on HOLLYOAKS.
Monday 18th February
Check out the second part of our interview with Summer Strallen as she tells all about her musical family, and what she'll miss about working on HOLLYOAKS.
We know now that there will be a cross over from HOLLYOAKS and real life. Do you think people will find it difficult to remove the real you from Summer Shaw?
I'm going to be doing quite a lot of interviews which should hopefully try and help with that issue, because Summer Shaw is very different to Summer Strallen. Summer Strallen is a lot more down to earth and Summer Shaw although refreshingly innocent about things, does seem to have her head up in clouds. Ultimately people will have to decide for themselves.
So obviously you usually work in theatre but now that you have worked in television which do you prefer?
There is a real adrenaline rush when you first start on television which you get on stage as well but with theatre you get the audiences reaction too. I love singing and I love dancing but they are so different it would be hard to say.
What are the worst and best things about working on HOLLYOAKS?
The worst thing was travelling up from London to Liverpool all the time. I was spending the weekend with my family and friends and my boyfriend then having to come back. Every week I was like "No I don't want to go back!" It's a fair distance to travel every weekend.
I think the best bits are things like the awards ceremony and just getting to know everyone that works here. People always ask me about HOLLYOAKS and I'll miss being part of that. Everyone has been really lovely and I'll miss living with Loui Batley (Sarah), we both have little dogs and we just connected and I then I moved in with her so meeting a friend like that, who will remain a friend, is really special.
Gerard McCarthy (Kris) has been really supportive too and helped me settle in, we already knew each other as we went to college together.
I'm going to be doing quite a lot of interviews which should hopefully try and help with that issue, because Summer Shaw is very different to Summer Strallen. Summer Strallen is a lot more down to earth and Summer Shaw although refreshingly innocent about things, does seem to have her head up in clouds. Ultimately people will have to decide for themselves.
So obviously you usually work in theatre but now that you have worked in television which do you prefer?
There is a real adrenaline rush when you first start on television which you get on stage as well but with theatre you get the audiences reaction too. I love singing and I love dancing but they are so different it would be hard to say.
What are the worst and best things about working on HOLLYOAKS?
The worst thing was travelling up from London to Liverpool all the time. I was spending the weekend with my family and friends and my boyfriend then having to come back. Every week I was like "No I don't want to go back!" It's a fair distance to travel every weekend.
I think the best bits are things like the awards ceremony and just getting to know everyone that works here. People always ask me about HOLLYOAKS and I'll miss being part of that. Everyone has been really lovely and I'll miss living with Loui Batley (Sarah), we both have little dogs and we just connected and I then I moved in with her so meeting a friend like that, who will remain a friend, is really special.
Gerard McCarthy (Kris) has been really supportive too and helped me settle in, we already knew each other as we went to college together.
What kind of preparation have you had to do for the role of Maria and has it been difficult alongside filming for HOLLYOAKS?
At the moment I haven't done much because all I have to do is learn the script before I go to rehearsal, and I know most of the songs, I did The Sound Of Music when I was six.
When is the show opening?
There is a preview on 26th February and the press night is on the 3rd of March.
Will any of the cast be going to watch you?
I hope so, I will speak to the publicity people and hopefully they'll get as many as possible. Everyone wants to come and everyone has been asking me for tickets.
At the moment I haven't done much because all I have to do is learn the script before I go to rehearsal, and I know most of the songs, I did The Sound Of Music when I was six.
When is the show opening?
There is a preview on 26th February and the press night is on the 3rd of March.
Will any of the cast be going to watch you?
I hope so, I will speak to the publicity people and hopefully they'll get as many as possible. Everyone wants to come and everyone has been asking me for tickets.
You come from musical family, does this make it easier when a big role comes along, and do you feel like it takes some of the pressure off?
God no! Quite the opposite, I think it's worse than other people really. Scarlet (Summer's sister, currently plays Mary in Mary Poppins) and I are both very different performers and anything I do she can do equally well, if not better. Obviously she is incredibly proud but it's more of a case of wanting to make them proud because they have a lot of experience and know what they are talking about.
My grandmother is the worst person; she's really tough and will tell you exactly what you did wrong and what you should change. As long as it's constructive criticism then that's great but sometimes Grandma can be a bit tough but it's all in good fun.
Have you always wanted to be an actor or did you dream of something else when you were younger?
I always fancied myself as a bit of a rebel although of course I wasn't, and I wanted to be an athlete first, then a vet. Then my sister went to drama school and she looked like she was having such a good time that I decided I wanted to do it too.
What would be your dream role?
Probably something like a musical film and I'd quite like to do some comedy, I love comedy but it's such a difficult thing to do. I'd love to work with people like Vince Vaughan, Matt Perry and Will Farrell, people like that are so naturally funny.
If you want to find out more about Summer, check out her cast profile and part one of her interview.
God no! Quite the opposite, I think it's worse than other people really. Scarlet (Summer's sister, currently plays Mary in Mary Poppins) and I are both very different performers and anything I do she can do equally well, if not better. Obviously she is incredibly proud but it's more of a case of wanting to make them proud because they have a lot of experience and know what they are talking about.
My grandmother is the worst person; she's really tough and will tell you exactly what you did wrong and what you should change. As long as it's constructive criticism then that's great but sometimes Grandma can be a bit tough but it's all in good fun.
Have you always wanted to be an actor or did you dream of something else when you were younger?
I always fancied myself as a bit of a rebel although of course I wasn't, and I wanted to be an athlete first, then a vet. Then my sister went to drama school and she looked like she was having such a good time that I decided I wanted to do it too.
What would be your dream role?
Probably something like a musical film and I'd quite like to do some comedy, I love comedy but it's such a difficult thing to do. I'd love to work with people like Vince Vaughan, Matt Perry and Will Farrell, people like that are so naturally funny.
If you want to find out more about Summer, check out her cast profile and part one of her interview.
FIND OUT MORE
EPISODES- Catch up what you've missed here.
BACKSTAGE VIDEO- Watch the latest Backstage Videos.
ASK THE CAST- Read all our latest interviews.
EPISODES- Catch up what you've missed here.
BACKSTAGE VIDEO- Watch the latest Backstage Videos.
ASK THE CAST- Read all our latest interviews.
