Interview with Sue Johnston (Cecily)
Category: Press Pack ArticleWhat did you make of the script and were you familiar with Ben Wheatley’s work?
I was a bit bewildered at first. It's not the kind of role I usually take, but that's what attracted me. It was so bizarre and so far away from anything I've done, and I found it great fun. I had heard of Ben but I had never seen any of his films. I asked around, and a lot of people – especially younger people – went, “Wow, Ben Wheatley!” So I knew he had a track record, and people were very excited when I told them that I was doing it.
How impressed were you with him as a writer and director?
He was incredibly contained and calm, no shouting. I've got a visual image of him in the woods, on his monitor, smiling and calm. He found it the whole thing enormously funny. My first scene on my first day was me biting somebody's nose off, and I remember thinking: God, why are we doing this? But he was very supportive – a lovely man with a twinkle in his eye. He knew where it was all going.
How did you enjoy the improvised elements?
I've never been frightened of improvisation because it formed a lot of my theatrical history. It shows the director trusts you in a way and it keeps the mind active.
Could you introduce us to Cecily?
When we meet her, she's in a residential home for the elderly, which I imagine she hates. She’s sitting outside with her long-term friend and lover Frank (Paul Bentall), and she's got a secret. Frank is expressing that he's always loved her and she makes him happy. They've obviously come together again through their lives, although there's a story that unfolds throughout concerning her guilt about certain aspects of her past. She knows she's terminally ill and that she has to tell him, but they get a whiff of the virus and that puts paid to that. So she's very ill and weak, but her strength comes back.
How does infection change Cecily?
It’s great for her and me, because suddenly you're not acting being tired and dying. I love her leadership, I loved doing cartwheels in the old people’s home and I loved fighting Anita Dobson (playing Janine)! It put me in mind, of very wealthy Americans buying kids’ plasma, that idea of taking a youthful element and putting it back in yourself to get stronger. There was a ruthlessness and a joy which all the characters felt about being strong again, which was great. The supporting artists were fantastic as well, so committed – you didn't feel quite as daft as you guzzled on an arm.
How was the process of eating the flesh and the gore and the blood?
Well, you know it's not real, so you have to get in there. Usually they gave you something rather nice to eat, but I hated the blood around the mouth. That was very sweet and unpleasant, but when they said “Cut!”, you'd laugh and think: Am I really doing this? It was so bizarre.
How did you find getting the make-up done every day?
I thought it would be boring, but the girls who did it were fabulous and – unfortunately – very beautiful as well. So as I got uglier, I could see these two very beautiful young girls behind me. They were so clever and patient, and they worked for hours. I always made sure I took a bottle of wine into makeup at the end of the day – the three of us would have a glass while I ripped the stuff off my face. By the end stretch when it got to four-and-a-half hours in the chair, I started to get a bit twitchy, but it's not exactly the end of the world, is it?
How much of the fighting with Anita were you doing yourself?
We had two girls who looked very like us, so wherever they could put us in a pose we could manage, we'd do that. The physicality was them, we would just be inserted at certain positions we could hold, although we did have a bit of push and shove. Anita’s fantastic. We haven't seen each other in about 40 years, when we knew each other from our soaps, but she's such a joy. She brings such life and energy.
How would you react in a zombie apocalypse?
It would depend what mood I was in! I have days when I feel really old and days when I'm really not going to be old. Sometimes you’d think: Oh, just bite me, finish this. Other times, I would fight for survival. I was attacked when I was in my twenties, and I fought like a tiger and got away so I know that instinct is in me. If ever I see anything, I go to it, I won't run away. I’d be a Cecily. And I’d kill people quite happily I’m sure!