Interview with Terri Dwyer

7 October 2015

Can you believe it's been 20 years since Hollyoaks started?

No! I went for an audition the other day and I said to my agent, "The character I'm audition for has a 16-year-old child, so I think I'm too young to get it'. Then I did the sums and I thought, 'Oh God, actually, I am old enough to have a teenage child…" So, no, I can't believe it's been 20 years…I must be in denial! I have very, very fond memories of Hollyoaks. I have an awful lot to thank Phil Redmond for. On a personal front, it was life-changing for me and I made life-long friends. And on a professional front, I learned a huge amount.

What are your memories of your audition?

There were all these girls from Italia Conti sitting there and slagging off the show and I was sitting there with my little portfolio thinking, 'Oh. I think it sounds great'. They were all proper actresses and I was this little model. I didn't think I'd get the job in a million years so I decided just to enjoy it. I thought it would be fun to spend the day in Liverpool. I went with my friend Morgan and we were excited to have our travel expenses paid and to see Liverpool. Five auditions later, I got the job, and Phil said they needed me to start straight away. I had to go shopping for knickers and a toothbrush, and I didn't go home until four months later. I kid you not.

Do you think you got the job because you weren't from Italia Conti?

Well, interestingly, I told [casting director] Dorothy Andrews that I thought I needed some acting classes. And she said, 'The reason we've cast you is because you're wet clay and we can see potential in you, and we want to mould you'. For the first year, I kept thinking I was going to get the sack! I thought I looked like a piece of cardboard compared to the other actors. But I learned on the job and I worked hard. I constantly watched the episodes and worked out what I'd done right and what I'd done wrong. Even after 20 years in the business, I don't pretend to be the best actress in the business, but there's not much you can tell me about camera angles and marks and all the rest of it that I don't already know. Drama school obviously has its place, but I learnt on the job. 

What was it like dealing with the fame?

It was amazing, I'm not going to lie. When I hear people in the public eye moaning about it, I think, 'Oh, shut up'. You can have a private life if you want to! Mind you, there are different levels of it. I remember going shopping with Martine McCutcheon at the height of her fame on EastEnders and she could not walk down the street. Because we were in Liverpool, we were protected. There weren't many paparazzi up there so we led quite a private life, which was really rather nice. And we didn't have social media. Perhaps if Hollyoaks launched now rather than 1995, things would have been different. But we enjoyed ourselves. We had the benefits and none of the downsides.

Do you stay in touch with your former co-stars?

They're all still very dear friends. And we support each other massively. Every time I do a play in town, they come and sit in the audience, and vice versa. They were very special times - and very wild times! We were big party animals, but in our defence it was because we worked hard, six days a work. If we didn't party hard in the evenings, we'd have had no social life. We had to go out and unwind a bit.

Who was the biggest party animal?

We all had devil's horns! It would only take a little whisper in someone's ear and the party was on. It was me, Jezzy [Jeremy Edwards], Will [Mellor]. All of us. 

Were there ever any romances?

Strangely enough, the original gang, no. We were all just friends and we still are really tight now. As soon as people came into the cast and started having romances, I think they're not in touch so much. Once you've slept with someone, it changes things. Whereas because we never slept together, we are really close to this day. There's a real love there.  I think we were all so swept up with working hard and with this new big thing happening to us, that by the time you looked at someone and thought, 'Wow, you're actually really gorgeous', we were already in the friend zone. I remember having to do a kissing scene with Nick [Pickard] - oh my God. It was wrong on every level. It was like kissing my brother. By the time we started having those sorts of thoughts, we were already like family.

Why do you think so many ex Hollyoaks cast have had successful careers in other shows?

I know I will never have to work that hard again, ever. It gave me a great work ethic. We got taught that no matter what, you turn up for work even if your leg is falling off. And we learned great skills. I'm now starting to create my own work and produce stuff, and I think the original gang, we're all quite hardcore fighters. We would never give up without a hell of a fight.

Would you return to Hollyoaks for a guest role if you were asked?

I did go back four times after leaving (2003-4, 2008). I have very fond memories of Hollyoaks and I will always have a huge sense of loyalty to them and I will never forget where I came from. So if it was right for them and if it was right for me then yes, of course.

If you came back to be killed off, how would you like to be killed off?

I'd actually like to come back as a baddie. Ruth was such a goodie two-shoes, I'd like to come back as a bit of a bitch. And then she could get her comeuppance. She'll have been in London, getting really tough, and now she's back and she's not taking any rubbish. She can be that bad bitch that gets what's owing to her and the audience are thinking, 'Yeah, you deserve that'.  The goodie two-shoes Ruth probably doesn't appeal that much to me now that I'm a bit older. I quite enjoy playing roles that are a bit more removed from Terri the actress these days. For Ruth to come back, I think she'd have to have something different about her.

Can you sum up Hollyoaks in three words?

Life changing experience.