According to Digital Spy former Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey is after a long term role in Coronation Street.I don't know about you, but it seems like hardly a week goes by without another famous face saying how much they would love to be a part of Corrie. I tend to greet these announcements with a quiet little sigh.
I don't really know much about this particular actress, but it would appear to be yet another case of soap actors flitting from one programme to another within the same genre. (By the way, Does Waterloo Road count as a soap opera?)
Anyway, this is probably just more filler. However I'd like to hear from you on the wider issue of soap actors bobbing about from one show to another. Is it a good thing, or does it stifle the development of fresh talent?
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13 comments:
Frosty's opinons are well known in that unknowns should be given a chance There must be thousands of excellent actors out there just waiting for someone to give em a break. Yet most of the time producers give roles to well known faces or their mates. Morton was always Sinbad in Brookie, we have the soap merry go round with actors jumping from Corrie to Emmerdale, Holyoaks and EE and back again. Shows no vision IMO.
I think it depends on the role the actor had on the other soap. If an actor played a big role on another soap then it wouldn't work but if it was only a small role then it could work if it wasn't a huge character on Corrie. For big characters on Corrie I think they should always use new actors.
On a side note, I would love to see Chelsee on Corrie as her character from Waterloo Road.
Michelle collins will always be Cindy from EE with a dodgy accent! Sheila Grant will always be sheila grant - not Gloria!
Not every viewer watches all the soaps so Chelsee on Corrie would be like a completely new face to me. However, although I didn't watch EE, I knew Michelle Collins had played Cindy Beale because it was a big part in a major soap. The weird one for me was Michael Starke who was appearing in The Royal as well as playing Jerry Morton in Corrie at the same time.
No! Please no! Never! Nay! Not in a million years!
Chelsee Healey makes Kirk look like Einstein. I really think that the best person for the part should be cast, whether that is an unknown or a person from another soap. David Jason is accepted in a huge variety of roles.
As long as Chelsee Healey never appears in Corrie.
You like to see unknowns and relative unknowns given a break but often as we have seen in the past, they end up being not very good or else maybe it's the character they've been cast into that's written badly and it doesn't give the unknown much to work with. Because ratings are all important these days, casting someone that is known from another soap gives the hope that some of their fans will follow them. The American soaps have done this for years and even actors that have played major characters move across soap and network lines for major characters in new shows. Back in the day there were so many soaps that there was a good chance one person wouldn't watch them all anyway. Now they've whittled down to just a handful.
I guess you are right there, however the original cast of Corrie back in 1960 was almost entirely made up of unknown actors and look how that turned out :) I think only Violet Carson was a "name" through her work on radio.
Ideally, I would prefer that storylines take precedence, with plot and character coming before casting. Doing things the other way around often results in an awkward plot device or an out-of-place character inserted to bring in the actor.
My one exception to this is Ian McKellen as Mel Hutchwright, which was a little gem.
Ryan Thomas's brother is in Emmerdale, they look very much alike, I would love to see him knock on Eileen's door looking for his half brother Jason.
I guess they want seasoned actors because they can take direction well and don't have to run their lines over and over again. Even so, some of the actors that are kept on screen year after year fail completely and are totally un-convincing - (Jenna, Ryan, Katie).
Totally agree with a previous person who said no to Chelsee, she is truly dreadful and can't even speak properly! No no no no no.
I really don't like the soap-swaperama that keeps happening these days. You really do remember them for their previous role, plus there's the fact that the soap powers that be even tell actors they will be remembered as their character and offer advice to those taking on 'nasty' roles on how to deal with their negative publicity.
Short term cameos are fine, such as Stephanie Cole and Ian Mckellen, but not long term roles.
Just think how most of the characters we like came from nowhere - who'd ever heard of the actors who play Beth, Sinead, Sally, Hayley or Roy before they were in Corrie. Keep up that casting tradition please!
AmandaB
I like it when big stars enter the show for a short time (Ian McKellen, Steph Beecham, Peter Kay etc) - it's like a little treat for Corrie watchers.
But any other new characters I prefer to be brand new, unfamiliar talent, there's enough of it out there.
With regard to Frosty's well known views on the subject: speaking as an actor, I agree that unknowns should certainly be given the breaks they deserve, but please ask yourself this - if the Frosty Rule were to be applied across the board, then a part in a soap would be career death. If an actor plays a role in Corrie for, say, two years, are they seriously never to be re-employed in another soap? I fear you are forgetting that actors do the job to make a living, not just for the chance of 15 minutes of entertaining Frosty ;)
Also, to Anonymous at 17:40, many young actors are much sharper on their lines than the older ones. Age brings experience and insight, but the lines frequently get harder to learn.
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