Interview with Sarah Hadland for Ballot Monkeys

27 April 2015

What made you want to be involved with Ballot Monkeys?

Andy and Guy are both amazing. I’m a huge Outnumbered fan. Their writing is wonderful, and they get terrific performances out of their cast. They’re an actor’s dream. If anyone else was doing it, you’d think, ‘Good luck with that.’ But because it’s Andy and Guy, I’m sure it’ll be brilliant. You think, ‘If anyone can do this, they can.’ As soon as I heard they were making this, I wanted to do it. I don’t think my agent got to the end of the sentence before I said, ‘Yes!’

 

Are you excited that it is being filmed right up to the wire before transmission?

Absolutely. When I heard they were making it like this, I went, ‘Wow!’ I think it’s fantastic that it’ll be so last minute. Acting is normally all about preparation, but all we have to do here is turn up and nail it. We won’t improvise too much because everything will have to be approved legally.

 

Will you be nervous?

Probably. But I’ve done a lot of studio sitcoms, and I’d assume this will be similar. It adds an edge to your performance. You have to be on your mettle because you can’t afford to mess up. You can’t say, ‘Can I do that again later?’ You have to learn fast and nail it first time. You definitely have to bring your A game.

 

What will viewers gain from Ballot Monkeys?

If it gets people talking and interested in politics that would be great. Satire is a tremendous way of getting people engaged with politics.

 

What can you reveal about your character?

I must admit I did a little jump for joy when I was told I was going to be on the UKIP bus. My character Kate has very strong opinions. Like a lot of the people on the battle buses, she’s a volunteer with a lot of passion and energy. It feels like the workers on the buses do not have a lot of supervision, and when people with very strong opinions like Kate are left to their own devices, it’s a recipe for disaster.

 

Can you tell us more, please?

Kate has a strong personality and is very much looking forward to voicing her opinions on the bus. She belongs to a party where everyone believes in free speech, which is a wonderful concept. But if we all went around saying exactly what we thought, that probably wouldn’t work. She has that lack of self-awareness that a lot of self-confident people have. They think they occupy the moral high ground because they’re saying what they believe and being honest at all costs.

 

Is she relishing the prospect of being on the bus?  

Definitely. She’s thrilled to have been given this job and a soapbox to express her opinions. It’s a badge of honour for her to voice them. She thinks she’s very brave to say them, but she also believes, ‘I’m only saying what everyone else is thinking.’

 

What other traits does Kate have?

She loves the sound of her own voice, but even if people are dumbstruck by what she’s saying, she completely misreads the look of horror on their faces and thinks, ‘I’ve given them something to think about’. When she’s let off the leash, her rhetoric starts to gather momentum and you can see people around her thinking, ‘Hang on!’ Kate is potentially a loose cannon.

 

Are you looking forward to portraying her?

Absolutely. To get to play a character who thinks, ‘I know what I’m saying is right’ in words written by Andy and Guy is heaven. Kate will be the most glorious fun to play. I can’t wait!