Soaps
Show
“ HolbyBlue ”
The 32-year-old, famed for playing ultimate bitch Tanya Turner in the ITV football drama, now makes a fundamental change from blonde to brunette and from the wrong side of the law to the other.
In the drama, Zoe plays Kate Keenan, estranged wife to DI John Keenan (Cal Macaninch), since their marriage failed due to John's devotion to the Metropolitan Police.
DS dropped in on filming to chat to Zoe about her new role in HolbyBlue, the legacy of Tanya Turner and how she's the spitting image of Denise Van Outen.
Tell us a little about your character
"Kate's a home-girl, a mum with two kids and, although there are elements of me that are like that, I've always been someone who'd wake up in the morning and put my makeup on before I go out, even to the shops. She's very practical and a great cook, she spends her time being a mum. I'm not like that, so as much as I loved playing a mum and having these two sweet kids, it's not me, so not at this stage, anyway."
What was it like working with the kids?
"They were hilarious. One time, little Josie Widjer (who plays my daughter Natasha) had a move, but she was supposed to come back and, bless her, she just kept forgetting to move back, because there were all these other kids in this situation. So at one point I said 'Josie', which meant she would always come back to me and they could edit it out for camera. But she pulled me up about five or 10 minutes later. She said 'I would much rather you didn't call me Josie, because that isn't my character name, and I don't want the audience to know that my real name is Josie if you don't mind', and I went 'okay'.
"It was really embarrassing, because there were loads of other kids there. So I found myself saying 'actually, they're going to cut that out in the edit', knowing she wouldn't know what we were talking about, but I thought that was so childish. She showed me up in front of all her mates; dead embarrassing."
In what ways would you say you're similar to your character?
"I love children and I'm very motivated by love, friendship and happiness, unlike Tanya [Turner], she was motivated by money and power. Like Kate, I wouldn't tread on anybody else to get where I wanted. I'd get where I wanted through hard work and I've always got where I wanted through hard work. She's just a person that I like very much, that I would like to have as a friend. She's trustworthy, loyal and they are all things I would say that, without sounding egoistic, are aspects of me that I quite like in myself. So I think from that point of view, there are certain similarities."
People always say it's quite fun to play the bitch, but is it fun to get away from that?
"Yeah. I love to play both, and I love the fact there was such a huge contrast. It's great fun playing bitches, but the thing that I enjoyed most about playing Tanya [Turner] was trying to make sure that she wasn't just a bitch, that there was a fragility to her that meant that people would go along with the storylines and along with the characters. I think if you do just play a bitch - and there's nothing humane about that person, nothing that you want to help survive - then it just goes for nothing.
"There aren't really that many people out there who are like [Tanya]. There had to be some qualities that were endearing, or else she would have had no friends and wouldn't have been in the situation she was in. That's what I enjoyed playing - that double-edged sword. But it is nice to play someone who's kind, and not [when you read a script] to immediately work out the subtext and what she's really thinking, what she's saying.
"With Tanya it was very, very rare for anything to come out of her mouth that was honest and spontaneous; it was always calculated or premeditated because she'd spent her whole life being deceitful, whereas Kate is a very in-the-moment [person]. She's a very selfless person who would hate to hurt someone, even if they'd hurt her. She'd really have to get pushed to start battling it, playing up to somebody else's level, if they were that way inclined. She'd probably just walk away."
She has a bit of a love rival in the station, doesn't she?
"Yeah, before the show starts, Kate and John [were in a relationship]. They're still in love with each other, he comes round, she irons his shirts, and there's a real thing there."
What's Kate's position?
"She's not a police person, she's front desk, so she works in administration [from the third episode]. The only thing that she deals with is the people who come off the streets, if they've got parking tickets or want to see someone in the station, or have been asked to come down. Anybody who would arrive at the front desk, she would deal with them. There wouldn't be any of the people who have been arrested - they're in custody anyway. She's paperwork, she's in charge of all that sort of thing - filing, photocopying."
Did you do any research into the role?
"Well, not really. From my point of view, bear in mind I knew I wasn't going to be joining the force, I knew a lot of the things Kate would have known about the police station would have come through John [her husband], it's the reason I believe they split up; he was either at the station all the time, or he brought his work home, which I think obviously caused problems in the relationship. I didn't think that I needed [to do any research] as she was learning.
"As I arrive at Holby South station in the third episode, she's learning about admin, and it didn't make sense to go and research that, because I'd have been taught it already. I very rarely do research, to be honest. I certainly didn't for Footballers' Wives. Generally I go by instinct. I read the character and I know who that person is, and it just develops when things come your way.
"I guess, in my head, I've always worked out a kind of biog, but I don't write it down, I just know just like an instinct, it tells me 'I know where they've come from, I know what kind of music they listen to' and all those things. It just happens quite naturally, really, and if they don't, sometimes you do create them to fill in the gaps, because you don't want to have a character and not know what kind of music they listen to!"
And you had to dye your hair darker for the series. Are you a blonde at heart?
"I've always found hair colour and changing hair colour synonymous with one specific character. I've always been blonde, even though Tanya [Turner] was blonde. It was quite significant that she was blonde, but psychologically it does have an effect on me when I go darker. As much as I loved playing Kate, when I got to the end of filming the series it was a bit like - it's time to go blonde now. I just feel it's much more me, really. Every time I catch sight of myself with dark hair I'm still a little bit confused."
Do you get noticed more as a blonde?
"What people tend to do is look and go 'she looks a bit like' whoever. Last night in the theatre, I was sitting there and someone - and I'm so glad I replied the way I did - came up and went 'excuse me', and normally they're going to say 'did you play Tanya', and every now and again something else happens, and last night I got 'sorry to bother you, are you Denise Van Outen', and I was like 'sorry, no, I'm not'.
"There was a group of them and I was sitting on my own waiting for my agent to come back with a drink, and I just put my head down, kept looking and thinking I'm not being rude in any way, but I'm not Denise. I had to say 'no, but a lot of people do say that', and then they continued the conversation and said 'you look so much like her' and I was like 'thank you', they said 'it's such a compliment to say you look like Denise' and I was like 'thank you, yes'. Then they said 'do you know Denise' and I thought 'this conversation's gone on for far too long'. I either get people recognising me or think I'm Denise, or sometimes Tamsin Outhwaite. It's weird."
Thanks for chatting with us, Zoe!
HolbyBlue begins on Tuesday, May 8 at 8.00pm on BBC One.
