This Issue > Art and About

Q&As // Kevin Sacre

06/12/11

Kevin Sacre is going to be a regular fixture at Norwich Theatre Royal in the months ahead.

He is taking on the role of the Prince in this year’s seasonal spectacular Jack and the Beanstalk from December 14 to January 15 before returning later in the year to star opposite his wife Camilla Dallerup in Calendar Girls from April 2-7.

Did you always want to tread the boards?I had no intentions of being an actor. I was quite happily going off to do biochemistry at university but I decided to pursue acting which was originally a hobby. Off the back of that, Sylvia Young had offered to be my agent off the back of a show I had done at youth theatre. The rest just happened.

Starring in Hollyoaks helped to make you a household name. What was that like?I was very fortunate in Hollyoaks going from story line to story line. I started off as a very sensible character. He was the moral high ground and the voice of reason in his family and then pretty soon, his whole life just crumbled. As an actor, it was great fun to have your character go from one extreme to another. It was great fun and people do remember him. He was loved and then absolutely despised which was great because it meant I’d done my job.

And then you ended up heading back to the show for some more strong storylines.Yes, they brought me back to do a very risqué storyline which never happened. There was going to be a Jamie Bulger-esque storyline. It was supposed to conclude with Jake killing himself which is why I agreed to go back. I thought ‘yes, this is a great storyline to go back with especially in that time slot.’ It was someone killing themselves for something they hadn’t done. The storyline ended up getting pulled in the end and Jake ended up leaving on a bus. I think if the character hadn’t had so much to do, I would have left sooner but when you see ‘hit and run’ and then you are going to be involved in a fire and then you are in a love triangle. You just think, Oh OK I will stay and do that…and of course, you are doing what you love so why leave? It was very hard to say I am leaving both times but I am glad to leave on good terms. I think Jake’s somewhere in London before you ask!

Would you ever go back to the show?I’d like to finish him off. He’s had such a rollercoaster storyline but I think he needs to be killed eventually. I’d like to lay him to rest at some point or another.

Meanwhile the countdown is on to panto. Are you looking forward to taking to  the stage? I love the theatre. I love everything about it. I like putting the sets together. I like the rehearsal process. I like the smell of the theatre and the crinkling of sweets being unwrapped. I love all of it. If I can’t hear the sound of the audience coming in over the tannoy, I have to turn it up because it kind of gets you going. It’s why I went into acting because I loved being on stage. I had to learn to love TV work. It was never going to be the other way round. If I could live my life happily and comfortably just by being on stage, I would do it.

And what about panto?This will be my third pantomime in recent years. I did do some when I was younger. If something goes wrong in panto, it adds to the fun of it. It’s a little bit more light-hearted. I just love everything that it is about. It is much more enjoyable.

Kevin Sacre is going to be a regular fixture at Norwich Theatre Royal in the months ahead.

He is taking on the role of the Prince in this year’s seasonal spectacular Jack and the Beanstalk from December 14 to January 15 before returning later in the year to star opposite his wife Camilla Dallerup in Calendar Girls from April 2-7.

Did you always want to tread the boards?I had no intentions of being an actor. I was quite happily going off to do biochemistry at university but I decided to pursue acting which was originally a hobby. Off the back of that, Sylvia Young had offered to be my agent off the back of a show I had done at youth theatre. The rest just happened.

Starring in Hollyoaks helped to make you a household name. What was that like?I was very fortunate in Hollyoaks going from story line to story line. I started off as a very sensible character. He was the moral high ground and the voice of reason in his family and then pretty soon, his whole life just crumbled. As an actor, it was great fun to have your character go from one extreme to another. It was great fun and people do remember him. He was loved and then absolutely despised which was great because it meant I’d done my job.

And then you ended up heading back to the show for some more strong storylines.Yes, they brought me back to do a very risqué storyline which never happened. There was going to be a Jamie Bulger-esque storyline. It was supposed to conclude with Jake killing himself which is why I agreed to go back. I thought ‘yes, this is a great storyline to go back with especially in that time slot.’ It was someone killing themselves for something they hadn’t done. The storyline ended up getting pulled in the end and Jake ended up leaving on a bus. I think if the character hadn’t had so much to do, I would have left sooner but when you see ‘hit and run’ and then you are going to be involved in a fire and then you are in a love triangle. You just think, Oh OK I will stay and do that…and of course, you are doing what you love so why leave? It was very hard to say I am leaving both times but I am glad to leave on good terms. I think Jake’s somewhere in London before you ask!

Would you ever go back to the show?I’d like to finish him off. He’s had such a rollercoaster storyline but I think he needs to be killed eventually. I’d like to lay him to rest at some point or another.

Meanwhile the countdown is on to panto. Are you looking forward to taking to  the stage? I love the theatre. I love everything about it. I like putting the sets together. I like the rehearsal process. I like the smell of the theatre and the crinkling of sweets being unwrapped. I love all of it. If I can’t hear the sound of the audience coming in over the tannoy, I have to turn it up because it kind of gets you going. It’s why I went into acting because I loved being on stage. I had to learn to love TV work. It was never going to be the other way round. If I could live my life happily and comfortably just by being on stage, I would do it.

And what about panto?This will be my third pantomime in recent years. I did do some when I was younger. If something goes wrong in panto, it adds to the fun of it. It’s a little bit more light-hearted. I just love everything that it is about. It is much more enjoyable.