Natalie Casey (From The Argus)

Natalie Casey

6:00am Saturday 4th July 2009

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Former Hollyoaks actress and star of Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Natalie Casey is donning a gingham dress this month to play Ado Annie in Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre, Oaklands Park, Chichester, until Saturday, August 29.

Although Natalie is best known for her acting, this isn’t her first dalliance in music. She was the youngest person to get a single in the British pop charts with the Chick Chick Chicken back in 1984, and she has appeared in Fame at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre and played Julia in the touring version of The Wedding Singer.

Tickets for Oklahoma! start at £12 and are available from the box office on 01243 781312.

Was there an actor that made you think “I want to do that?” I used to obsessively watch Victoria Wood As Seen On TV. I was a huge, massive, unbelievable fan of that and it got me thinking I would like to be in comedy. Stand-up is the hardest job in show business, though. I prefer to interpret other people’s words. Then you can always say “I didn’t write it!”.

Is there a television programme you couldn’t live without? I’m absolutely hooked on Lost. I think you are either the kind of person who is willing to watch something like that for the long haul, or you prefer to watch things that are self-contained. With Lost I don’t know what’s going on and a lot of it won’t be revealed for another series. I also watch cookery shows and wildlife shows too.

What is your favourite film? When I was younger I was obsessed with the Aliens trilogy – I don’t count the fourth one with Winona Ryder in it. The Big Lebowski is also a favourite. It’s beautifully written, the characters are fantastic and it is really well acted. The Coen Brothers are great writers and directors. I think something comic is just as worthy as something dramatic. A lot of the time people assume comedy is the easier medium.

Is there a song or individual piece of music you always come back to? My favourite song changes every day. I would say it is probably Redemption Song by Bob Marley. My mum and dad always played a lot of music in their house, so The Ink Spots are one of my all-time favourites. I listen to a lot of different types of music, especially world music.

There’s a compilation album called Brazilian Beats Brooklyn, which is loads of Brazilian funk and samba songs. It’s perfect for the summer. There’s a song on it called Jeep by Erasmo Carlos which is sung in Portuguese. It is all about this girl he loves who he takes out in his jeep, which he also loves.

What was the first record you bought? The first record I bought myself was Dee-Lite’s Groove Is In The Heart. I also bought Kylie Minogue’s Enjoy Yourself because she had crazy hair like mine. I used to go to my local Woolworths to get my records.

Do you have any guilty pleasures in your record collection? I’m quite embarrassed about the fact I own Blackout by Britney Spears.

What are you reading at the moment? I’m going through the Rabbit series by John Updike. There is an incredibly moving passage in it where the main character Rabbit has left his wife and she accidental drowns their baby. It is just the most amazing thing I have ever read.

What attracted you to Oklahoma? I always wanted to perform in Chichester and I always wanted to do a classic musical. It is very rare for them to come up though.

It all seems to be new works at the moment, which is sometimes a shame – new things aren’t always better. When I found out it was John Doyle directing, who won the Tony Award for Sweeney Todd, that really sealed it.

Nine times out of ten you do a job and it is all right. You do it because you think it will be a good laugh. It’s very rare you do a job that changes the way you look at theatre and acting. John is an unbelievable director and the songs are incredible.

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