Vicky McClure Interview for Prestage Magazine 

Posted in InterviewPrestage | Tags : actress, BAFTA Awards, England, Kate Moss, Madonna, Shane Meadow, This Is England, Vicky McClure

The first thing Kate Moss said to Vicky was ‘Oh my God, I fucking love you.’ Vicky is one of Englands most exciting actors and already has a Best Leading Actress BAFTA award on her name for her performance in Shane Meadow’s

Vicky grew up in Nottingham and still lives there now. Where some actors with gongs on the mantelpiece might be dreaming of Hollywood in a few years time, McClure dreams of the East Midlands. She always loved performing and started dancing at age 3. When she was 11 she joined the TV workshop and that is where her love for acting started. The dancing ended up taking a back seat and she stayed in the workshop for 10 years. “I don’t feel I had to change for the business but obviously you have to adapt in many ways. I think it is really important to remain true to yourself.”

Her ideal lifestyle is what she does now, living close to her family and doing the job she loves. “I just feel like I’m such a normal person in an industry that is so chaotic and crazy. I am what I am and I can’t change it. And I don’t want to change it. Eventually I just want to live a normal life. I want to get married and have children and cook, wash… all the things that I do now. My background is very normal and steady and that’s what I like.”

86 and 88, and both series quite rightly won a number of TV BAFTAs. Her outstanding performances meant she was nominated for Best leading Actress for two consecutive years, clinching the award for

90 will be the next chapter which is currently in pre-production. McClure has appeared in a number of leading roles including the intense and much lauded BBc2 drama,

which is currently airing. An anti-corruption team in the Police force is out to ruffle a few feathers, but who can you trust when your reputation is paramount?

“I feel a good actress creates a character that both you and the audience believe. For my role as Lol in

, I lived and breathed her and I can totally see that she is in my head. That job was an emotional rollercoaster. I’m proud of it when I watch it because I know how it takes a little bit from you to actually get to that point. I look for strong characters – whether that means they’re strong in their vulnerability or strong in the way they might be attractive to lots of blokes. There are different ways of being strong.”

(2008) was directed by Madonna. “I’d heard through friends in the business that Madonna had said, ‘I’m a really big fan of Shane’s work, I really like Vicky McClure, I’m doing this film and I’d love her to be in it.’ Then I was at a

event and Stephen Graham, who knew Guy Ritchie from snatch said, ‘Madonna really likes you.’ I just pissed myself laughing. But he rang me that night saying she wanted to meet me and before I knew it, the casting director had sent me a script and said, ‘This is your daily rate and this is when you start filming.’ I was like, ‘when is my audition?’ They said, ‘no, no, she’s insisted that we get you.’

Do you still get starstruck? “It’s strange because I’ve met the likes of Madonna, Elton John and Matt Damon and it’s not that I’m disinterested by celebrities at all, but I’m just a normal girl from Notts. So I think, ‘why am I in this situation? This is not normal.’ Having said that, I met Kate Moss and hung out with her after the NME Awards and I was completely starstruck. She told me she was a massive fan of

and that she loved my style in it. I was like, “but you’re Kate Moss.” It was just surreal.”

It sometimes makes Vicky more critical when she watches her looks on screen, “although I’d say I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin. Besides, when you’re acting, you’re not in your own clothes or wearing your hair and makeup the way you normally would. For me, it’s all about embracing the character your playing, it can be dangerous to become too hooked on your looks.” She also finds it important for people to watch someone normal. “I’m not slim. I’m a curvy girl: I’ve got thighs and a bum. I don’t mind baring the fact that I’ve got a bit of cellulite because everybody has. I find it off-putting when everybody on telly is the same size or looks the same build.”

What is next to expect from ms. McClure? “I can’t say too much, but the next month will be taken up promoting my latest film ‘Svengali’.”

actressBAFTA AwardsEnglandKate MossMadonnaShane MeadowThis Is EnglandVicky McClure