Suranne Jones on healthy living and Vigil’s return: ‘My next few characters aren’t lesbians, but I’ll be back with more’
Above the stairs in Suranne Jones’s Muswell Hill home, there is a poster branded with the words: “Half the street think you’re a slag, the other think you’re a nutter. I think you’re both.” It’s a quote from Coronation Street, the ITV soap that gave the Mancunian actor her big break in 2000. She strode onto the cobbles as Karen McDonald, described by The Guardian at the time as “a bulldog in hoop earrings”, and it was Karen’s charming husband Steve who uttered those immortal words from the poster, on the couple’s wedding day. Two decades later, after award-winning roles in Scott & Bailey, Doctor Foster and Gentleman Jack, the quote is a punchy reminder of where it all began.
Jones is reminiscing about – the show that pumped out a disproportionately high number of brilliant British actresses, from Sarah Lancashire to Julie Hesmondhalgh – over Zoom from a London hotel. She’s wearing sensible glasses; her hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail. There’s a Christmas tree in the corner of the suite. “I’m a bit overawed by it,” the 45-year-old says, sipping on a herbal tea. “Anything to do with Christmas, I f***ing love. I love it. I love it. I love, the BBC One thriller starring Jones as detective Amy Silva, who the last time we saw her. It’s no surprise she’s back, really, given how successful
