Interview with Charlotte Ritchie of Fresh Meat

28 September 2012

Charlotte Ritchie takes a more casual approach to clothes than her character in Fresh Meat but she loves the way they transform her into Oregon.

"It is amazing but there can be nowhere else you can turn up for work looking so rough and wearing awful track suits and then after an hour in hair and make-up and I'm transformed into Oregon. I find it hard to completely be Oregon unless I'm dressed up, have all the extensions and elaborate costumes because it imbues her character.

"She still has the same drive to be really fashionable and often takes things a little too far; it is ridiculous sometimes how elaborate her clothes are.  At the end of the last series she tried to be sophisticated and wore so much make up and put new colours in her hair to try to impress Jean Shales. This series the biggest addition to her wardrobe is a pair of glasses which she thinks makes her look really intelligent, she doesn't need them but she wears them, and a high bun. Smart and mature she thinks.

"My favourite outfit of this series was the long 70s style dress with flowing sleeves which Oregon wears with purple, sparkly Dr Marten boots and this beautiful medieval style head dress. And my least favourite are the horrible PVC leggings which are so hot and uncomfortable and tight - I'm so glad to say goodbye to them. Her clothes are not what I would choose to wear, I put comfort first, but they are very Oregon who is more concerned with appearance than comfort."

Talking about the changes in Oregon this term, Charlotte says: "In the first series she is really concerned with fitting in and making people like her. She made powerful allies; her main concern was making sure she had friends in high places. She spotted Vod as someone cool to know, someone much cooler than her, then the affair with her tutor Tony Shales and then she met Professor Jean Shales along the way too.

"This term she is much a bit more settled into university life, is less concerned about making friends and is more career driven and ambitious. She doesn't care about Tony anymore; she has grown up a little bit and opened her eyes about what that affair meant and how wrong it was. This series she realises how creepy his is and how he won't let it go, she realises it wasn't as serious for her as it was for him. She is more ambitious for herself as a writer, has grand ideas and is not so concerned with men, although she does meet someone special but not until later on.

"It turns out Oregon is really into poetry and she writes her own stuff which she thinks is brilliant of course. There is a scene where Vod writes a poem and Oregon is really jealous of her because that is her thing now and she is starting a literary magazine with Jean Shales. I think it's nice that Oregon has that element to her character that she is creative and wants to write. I like that about her."

Charlotte used to sing in the classical group All Angles, so how did she feel about singing in the new series of Fresh Meat?

"When production asked what I thought about Oregon singing I was really up for it because I don't really sing any more and it sounded like fun.  Singing in character sorts of takes the pressure off and with the comic element it's less nerve-wracking than a performance, has a whole different feel. Singing in character you can be more of a show off or more modest because it isn't yourself it's a nice way to sing, unusual, a bit like being in musical I guess.

"I imagined Oregon sang in the school choir, maybe had singing lessons but isn't necessarily a singer. And when the opportunity arises, rather annoyingly for Kingsley, who tries quite hard to be good at music, Oregon just pitches up and is better than he is.

"The poetry comes in handy when she writes her own song and that ties in nicely with her desire to be creative but she also takes it too far of course - she creates a whole outfit to go with the song and ends up looking like she's come out of Woodstock and actually wears a floppy hat!

"The wife of our music editor is in a band called Death in Vegas and she wrote a really lovely, dramatic love song for Oregon to sing."

Charlotte is currently singing with her brother Luke on a promotional tour of universities for his solo album, The Water's Edge.

She explains: "I've always listened to Luke play and sing and he was my biggest musical influence growing up. I'm singing some duets with him on his tour and it is so easy singing together; genetically our voices really blend well. I know the way he sings so well it feels like we don't have to practice that much - we just got it first time. He's really chilled and we get on well so it is going to be fun doing a music based project again."

Charlotte has just filmed Jolene, an improvised independent film directed by Jamie Adams in which she plays a folk singer.

 

Fresh Meat returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday 9th October at 10pm.

Don't forget to check out Fresh Meat House which will launch 9th October directly after transmission of the first episode on Channel 4. Go to www.channel4.com/freshmeathouse for a tour of the student digs and to watch exclusive content released at the end of each episode.

Fresh Meat House is a new commission from Channel 4's Education team who have a focus on life skills for young people