Interview

Jill Halfpenny

Jill Halfpenny is well-known for her two-year appearance in Eastenders as well as for Coronation Street, Peak Practice and The Bill, for theatre work that includes Cooking With Elvis, Studs and The Sound of Music, and for winning Strictly Come Dancing. She is a dazzling stage actress, as Paul Webb discovered when he recently saw her in Chicago at the Adelphi. He went backstage to meet her last week...

You've been in Chicago since January...How long are you here? "I've just extended to April 10, so people will have to hurry to catch me in it!"

You play Roxie Hart - was there an idea of you playing the other lead role, Velma Kelly? "No, Roxie was what I wanted, and what they offered me. Velma's a great part but I've always seen myself as Roxie."

What's your favourite song from the show? "'Roxie'! It starts as a sort of monologue and builds up from there into a big number, and it's great fun to do. It also involves a lot of acting - if you just stood there and sang then it would be very bland. It's a cheeky song, and sort of silly, which is something else I like about it!"

You're from Gateshead originally? And how did you find the American accent? "Yes, I am, and I had no trouble with the accent - not least because it's such an important part of who Roxie is - the way the part is written it's impossible to imagine anyone playing her other than with an American accent."

You must get a lot of fans outside the stage door... "There are usually a few!"

And apart from talking about Chicago, do they mainly talk about you in Eastenders, or Strictly Come Dancing? "Mainly Strictly Come Dancing."

Why do you think that show was such a success? "It's because it appeals to all ages - I get letters from 80 year-old couples and from little girls of 6 or 7. And it was family entertainment - you knew there would be nothing offensive in it. And it was fun, it involved a lot of skill and hard work, and the element of competition meant there was a level of excitement, of people backing their favourites."

When you were a little girl, did you have any favourite stars, people you wanted to be like? "Judy Garland! I first came to her in The Wizard of Oz and then explored her other films, and records. She had such talent, such expression, and she was also someone who had started very young, so I identified with that side of her, too. And she had such expressive eyes - she really lived her songs and you could see that in her eyes."

Did you want to be a stage actress or a film or television one? "I just wanted to be an actress, and I think it's wrong to try to parcel actresses into one sort or another."

Going back to Strictly Come Dancing for a moment, was it hard work? "Yes, very! Considering the finished result was just one and a half minutes of television it was an amazing amount of work - first learning the discipline of a particular dance style and then the choreography of one dance, then having a day to perfect it and then actually doing it on television in front of a vast audience - that was really chilling!"

When you aren't working eight shows a week do you like to go to the theatre, and if so what sort of shows do you prefer? "I do try to see as much as I can but there's no particular type of theatre I like more than another - I'm as happy watching a Noel Coward plays as one by John Godber - it depends what I feel like at the time, whether a particular play catches my attention. The most important thing for me is not the period or the style of play but seeing people on stage who really move me and take the audience on a journey with them, people who really give of themselves in the process."

When you leave the theatre at night do you have a favourite restaurant? "I like Joe Allen's, and P J's Bar and Grill. But Covent Garden has so many great restaurants and bars. It's a wonderful area and I'm lucky to be working in a theatre right in the heart of it. I come in on the tube to Holborn station each day and walk through Covent Garden to get to the Adelphi stage door, and each time I do it I feel excited and cheerful - it's a perfect place to work!"

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By Paul Webb
Wednesday March 30