I could report on some scurrilous scandal in the Sunday papers but this is a much more rewarding news article. Deanna Delamotta writes for the Manchester Evening News and the first half of her recent column is nowt but praise for the overlooked and under appreciated Eileen Derbyshire who has played Emily Bishop for nearly 49 years. What spurred Ms. Delamotta to write about Eileen was her performance this week in the aftermath of discovering that her newly found love, Ramsay Clegg, had died suddenly. She calls Eileen's performance "achingly poignant" with "a startlingly realistic range of emotions". Eileen played Emily's grief entirely spot on in character. She puts it so succinctly that I can't rephrase it better, "More tellingly, Monday night's master class demonstrated that actors don't have to shout and bawl to convey despair. Eileen's restrained initial reaction to the news of Ramsay's death which erupted in an outpouring of invective at Norris demonstrated that less is more in acting terms." She thinks, and I agree, that more of the younger actors could do worse than take a few pointers from Eileen's experience and performance. When she is allowed to shine, she's blinding!
I am so glad Emily has been at the forefront of a storyline instead of just being Rita's friend and Norris's landlady. Those who are old enough to remember the Leonard Swindley days and the bigamous marraige story will remember what a really excellent actress she is. I hope she gets some kind of award for this.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. She's cruelly underused and Deanna has hit the nail on the head! On my blog, there's a post on Emily the stalwart and on Emily in the 21st position in my character countdown.
ReplyDeleteOh how I agree! It's why so many of us old enough to remember back to the early days so often lament the state of the street these days. Eileen Derybshire and Barbara Knox acted everyone else of screen. And going straight from that to Claire's over-the-top histrionics just highlighted the gaping chasm in acting abilitites between the old and the young.
ReplyDeleteI know I am in the minority, but personally I find the omni-present Becky by far the worst offender. Every scene she is in is wildly over-acted, and as a result I couldn't care less about her character.
I seem to remember some while ago that you reported that actors in the street would in future get paid according to the amount of screen-time they have, so perhaps that has led to the increasing use of the older actors. When you are reminded just how good an actor Eileen Derbyshire is, you can only lament at the years that have gone by where she has been nothing but a glorified extra.
I doubt that she is underappreciated or overlooked by fans of the show.
ReplyDeleteBut the actress's own insistence on not granting interviews has certainly led to her not appearing in the press as much as her colleagues do.
You can't have it both ways in the showing-off trade!
I've never understood why Eileen didn't receive a spate of awards for her performance in the story-thread dealing with Ernest's killer befriending her and seeking forgiveness. That climactic scene in which she exploded at him and then finally absolved him sticks in my memory perhaps more vividly than any other single scene in nearly 40 years of watching the show. "Do you think it get's any easier? Because it does!" she thundered, "And now you have brought it all back!" It was electric. I have nothing but respect for Miss Derbyshire in shunning publicity. She's an utter professional.
ReplyDeleteI loved this article, it's not often the older actors are praised in the press these days.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and because Ms Derbyshire doesn't give interviews, it's nice to see they still think she's worth the effort!
ReplyDeleteEileen Derbyshire is without doubt one of the most gifted actresses in the programme.
ReplyDeleteOthers I'd single out for special praise for their work over the years include Barbara Knox (Rita), Helen Worth (Gail Platt) and Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts).
Strange that the Street doesn't have that many noticably strong male leads amongst its ranks.
Which male Corrie actors do you rate?
I very highly rate Simon Gregson who has really grown up and matured as an actor. Sure he usually plays the fool but he can be very good as well, with quiet dramatic moments. I will never forget a little scene he had on the street with Vera after Karen miscarried and his marraige was coming down around his ears. He saw Vera shouting at Jack and wondered why they were still together and in the end Vera just hugged him when he told her about the baby.
ReplyDeleteI also think Malcom Hebden is a very good actor even though i don't like Norris Cole. I also loved John Savident as Fred and David Neilson as Roy, very much so.
She appears to tweet from @eileenderbys -- it's clearly not really her, but funny that someone would even think to do it.
ReplyDeleteI love Coronation Street and have been watching for about 30 years. I just have one complaint, I cannot understand one word of what the character Sophie Webster says. Not one word........what is with the accent? Is it deliberate?
ReplyDeleteI find a lot of the young actors don't speak very clearly. I don't think it's deliberate, i don't think they've actually taken acting classes to learn how. They've all been in the business since they were little.
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