Gail Platt’s life is set to be turned upside down in Corrie this week when a mysterious client visiting Audery’s salon claims to be a clairvoyant with a message from her evil dead husband, Richard Hillman.
Actress Sophie Thompson, who is known by soap fans as notorious EastEnders villain Stella Crawford, arrives in Weatherfield tonight as Rosemary Piper with a message from beyond the grave – but is she the real deal?
Entertainment Daily caught up with Sophie on the Corrie set recently to find out more about this mysterious newcomer…
“Rosemary’s a quite a mysterious bird who’s clearly got information and she is – or purports to be – psychic. Who knows if she has genuine gifts? But it’s just delightful to be Rosemary. I’m fond of her already.”
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But when it comes to whether Rosemary is genuinely in touch with Gail’s dead husband, Sophie isn’t going to confirm one way or another: “Could it be slightly suspect? Well, who knows?
“It could be – whether you believe in that kind of stuff or not. Gail and Audrey are responding to Rosemary as a true creature, which she may well be, to a degree.”
Tonight’s trip to Weatherfield sees Rosemary arrive at Audrey’s salon as a customer, but it doesn’t take her long to reveal the real reason she is there…
“Rosemary seeks out Audrey and starts to reveal that she has information and she’s a clairvoyant. So that for Audrey is surprising and intriguing.
“Then we have a session together and Rosemary reveals that she wants to give information to Gail. That surprises her too. So Rosemary goes via Audrey to get the message to Gail, initially.”
Although Sophie is remaining tight-lipped about the exact message Richard is sending Gail from beyond the grave, she did admit that Gail is left haunted by what he has to say…
“I think it’s genuinely disturbing. Obviously this guy was not a very nice person and affected Gail’s life quite profoundly. To hear even his name must chill her bones. She’s disturbed.
It’s like you want to know more, but you don’t want to know. Gail is in that place at the moment, with very mixed feelings.”
But despite the slightly grim entrance her character makes this evening, that hasn’t stopped Sophie being thrilled about joining the Corrie cast: “I literally feel like I’ve won some sort of prize. My first day was in the salon with Sue Nicholls, who plays Audrey, and I was so happy.
“Also, for some reason we both got quite giggly. I was thinking: ‘I’ve only just arrived and I’m being really unprofessional!’
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“Helen Worth who plays Gail was so kind and calm, I couldn’t have been luckier to find that my story was with these wonderful women. I’m so delighted.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.
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