Ackley Bridge: Interview with Liz White who plays Emma

29 May 2018

For those unfamiliar with the show, explain what Ackley Bridge is all about.

Ackley Bridge is the name of an academy that’s been established to address the voluntary segregation that seems to happen, particularly in the north, between white schools and Asian schools. It’s true that academies are set up in order to mix the two communities together again, but unfortunately what happens over 12-18 months is that they then start to portion back into either a white school or an Asian school. So this is a story about trying to keep the momentum going, getting a really good mix of students in the school, and hopefully bringing harmony and understanding and tolerance. It’s a progressive movement.

 

And in real life, a lot of the kids appearing in the series are local. Did you get the impression that there was a coming together of different cultures on the set as well?

Yeah, absolutely. The best example of that is that one of the lads went up to the director and said “You know, before I did this job I didn’t have any white friends, and now I have.” It was just such a brilliant thing for all of us to hear, because you actually saw life imitating art. When we were in the canteen at work, at the start of the series, the kids from the white school would sit at one table, and the kids from the Asian school would sit at another table. And then slowly, as everyone started working together and being together and getting on, you’d see a much more mixed group of people around the table. That’s just great. It’s exactly what you want to do it for. Penny, the director, said that when she came back to do recces for this series, when people found out what she was researching for, and she said Ackley Bridge, she got a really positive response from locals.

 

You play Emma Keane – what’s her story?

She was brought up in Ackley Bridge, but moved to London to go and do a degree, and went off travelling. She came back and did teacher training and then slowly somehow ended up back in Ackley Bridge, teaching in the place where she grew up. She also had a daughter when she lived in London, but because it was an unplanned pregnancy and she never really saw herself cut out to be a mother, her and her ex decided that he should be the one to bring her up, and Emma would be much more of a satellite parent. But then in the last series Chloe, Emma’s daughter, turns up at the school unexpectedly, and moves back in with Emma. So Emma finds herself having to be a full-time mum. In this series, you see that even though they’re living together, they lead really quite separate lives. Chloe keeps a lot of secrets from Emma. But then, on the other hand, they have a good relationship. It’s not exactly maternal, it’s more of a friendship. Emma deals with Chloe as if they were practically the same age. You see that approach when she’s teaching as well. She speaks to the kids with a lot of respect and encouragement. She’s all for making the students the best that they can be, but without using too much authoritative power.

 

How did you find acting with Fern, who plays your daughter?

She’s a cracking actor, she’s really, really lovely to work with; really responsive, she’s got those beautiful wide eyes, pools of truth when you look at her. She’s a lovely actress to work with.

 

Meanwhile, Emma’s romantic life isn’t exactly straightforward, is it?

No! In the last series Sami, the love of her life as she was growing up, came to work in the school. Unfortunately, even though they obviously still had feelings for each other, he was engaged to someone else. At the end of the last series Emma said to him “Go and get married to your fiancée, forget about me, I’m going to concentrate on my daughter.” This series starts off at his wedding, but Emma finds that she still has really strong feelings for him.   She makes decisions sometimes that lead her to be in a bit of a mess.

 

Do you think her friendship with Mandy is strained by Mandy being her boss?

Yeah. That’s a new dynamic for their friendship. In the past, they’ve always been equals, and I don’t think being a head teacher appeals to Emma at all, she’s not interested in Mandy’s job, but she doesn’t always agree with Mandy’s approach. Particularly at the beginning of this series. Mandy makes a decision that she’s going to limit students who are really struggling in the non-compulsory subjects to study core subjects only. So if students are struggling at maths, English and science, she’ll exclude them from doing any subjects other than the core subjects. And Emma thinks that if a student’s only good subject is drama, and you stop them from doing it, what’s that going to do to their self-esteem. So she encourages the students to speak up for themselves, and go and let their feelings be known to Mandy, which obviously Mandy doesn’t agree with! You see their relationship struggle a little bit, because they come at things from different angles. But they’ll always find a way through it. And even though they don’t agree, and Mandy is the boss, she will always respect Emma’s ways, even if she doesn’t always agree with them.

 

You’ve mentioned Fern, but the young cast in general is excellent, isn’t it?

It’s brilliant, and for a lot of the kids it’s their first or second job. Obviously you’ve got Poppy and Amy at the front of the show, who are two experienced, brilliant actresses, they’ve both worked since they were young girls, and you can really tell that – they’re so professional, the way they approach the work. You absolutely feel like they’ve been doing it as long as you have. There are a few people who started as extras last year who have now got walk-on speaking parts, and it’s so great to see them progress.

 

How did it feel arriving back in Halifax to film season two?

It was cold! It was very, very cold! But this time I was prepared. The one thing I bought myself for this job was a really good Parka. And it’s done me really well. I was prepared, so I was toasty. But it was really nice to come back. We stay in Hebden Bridge while we’re up here, which is a lovely part of the area, and it’s a nice change for me from living in a town. I love being up in Yorkshire, the scenery is just beautiful, the people are lovely. It’s like coming home, in a way, because I was born up here. I really welcomed the opportunity.

 

What were you like at school? Detention or distinction?

I was quite dedicated, I have to say. Do you know, I don’t think I ever had a detention. But I remember I used to be quite argumentative with the teachers, particularly my maths teacher. I was quite diligent, really, I wasn’t too much of a rebel. But they weren’t the easiest years. I wouldn’t go back, not for a million pounds.