Up The Pole – Lisa Riley and Julie Buckfield
One Nation Magazine’s Nige Burton meets Lisa Riley and Julie Buckfield amid their hugely successful tour of The Naked Truth.
So here I am, sitting in the dressing room of Lisa Riley and Julie Buckfield at Prestonʼs Guild Hall Theatre, having my first threesome. Interview threesome, that is. The girls are in the middle of their tour of The Naked Truth, the sensational David Simpson play that has taken the nation by storm.
I asked the pair why they thought it was such a phenomenal hit.
“I think itʼs got to be its mass audience appeal,” says Julie with a mischievous grin. “Itʼs popular with the blokes as well, so itʼs a good all rounder.”
“Thatʼs definitely part of the appeal,” echoes Lisa. “When men are talking down the pub or at the football, they indulge themselves in that famous institution of ʻladsʼ talkʼ – well, we girls are no different, you know, when we go shopping or on our pub jaunts. And this play is a window onto what we talk about. Itʼs thoroughly educational.”
The story centres on five women and their complex relationships with each other, and plays out their lives against a bittersweet backdrop of humour and tragedy.
“Itʼs just like real life,” Julie explains, “it has all the same complexities and issues which is why people can identify with it so much.
“And this is my second run at it and Lisaʼs fourth, so we are constantly developing and fine-tuning our characters, making the whole experience richer and more rewarding, both for us and the audience.”
“And as Iʼve now done it so many times,” says Lisa, “I think the most interesting aspect for me is working with new cast members as we progress. It keeps our performances fresh and alive.”
At that moment Lisaʼs mobile rings, and she answers to her dad. Itʼs the same kind of chit chat we all do with our parents, very down to earth, very loving. A few seconds later, sheʼs back in the room with us, but I notice that sheʼs chatting to me – to all intents and purposes a complete stranger – with a similar warmth and sense of fun. And thatʼs just how both these ladies are, which makes a wonderfully refreshing change. It was as if we were old mates chatting over a few beers; perhaps we shouldʼve just gone down the pub!
I ask Julie about the early days and a career which began when she was just a kid.
“I was eight when I started acting,” she tells me, “but it was when I got the part of Natalie Stevens in Grange Hill that it all became real.
“They wanted to bring twins into the storyline, which seemed ideal for me and my twin sister, Clare, but it didnʼt work out like that in the end. My school didnʼt want me to take the role because they said it would interfere with my education, so we both moved to the Sylvia Young Theatre School which was fantastic for our careers.”
Was there any rivalry between the two, I wondered? “Not at all,” insists Julie. “We sometimes go up for the same parts, and it doesnʼt matter who gets it as long as one of us does. Clare and I still live together and weʼre great friends.”
Following her success in Grange Hill, Julie went on to play Julie Matthews in Hollyoaks for two runs, from 1995 to 1997, when she famously dumped Nick Pickard’s character Tony at the altar, eventually returning in 2002. She has also appeared in The Bill, Pie in the Sky, Londonʼs Burning, Expert Witness, Casualty and Holby City. She even presented a summer special for The Disney Club.
“I love working on TV,” says Julie, “but you get a real buzz from performing in front of a live audience. My stage career began when I played young Eponine in the Cameron Mackintosh production of Les Miserables aged just eleven, and then at the other end of the scale I usually try to do a panto every year! I get to play principal boy and itʼs great fun.”
“Which is a bit different to what weʼre doing with this play,” joins in Lisa, chuckling in that knowingly dirty laugh which is wickedly endearing. “Iʼve got into my stride with it now, but with all the swearing and outrageously risque humour, it can be a daunting play to put on before some audiences.
“Most are terrific, but we were playing to a full house a few weeks ago and it was as if theyʼd turned to stone. It wasnʼt going down very well, and I was approaching a line where I have to say ʻclitʼ! Iʼm thinking, shit, how am I going to get away with this? Is there any other word I can use? But, of course, there isnʼt so I just put a big smile on my face and delivered the line to stunned silence. It was all ok in the end, though; they came around a bit!”
Lisa too has a rich pedigree in TV soap, famously playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale for seven years, even scooping a National Television Award as most popular newcomer for the role in 1996.
“It was a great time,” recalls Lisa, fondly, “and people still ask me when Iʼm going back, which is lovely. I donʼt regret leaving though – Iʼve been busy ever since and I think you have to make that agonising decision sometimes about whether to stay for security and become completely associated with the role or move on to broaden your career.
“Donʼt get me wrong, I have enormous respect for actors like Bill Roach, whoʼs now been playing Ken Barlow for an incredible forty-nine years! And he still gets decent storylines, but Iʼd hate to be in that situation some find themselves in, where your most exciting line is ʻCan I have a gin and tonic, please?ʼ. At that point it has to be time to go. I wanted to come out with Mandy on top!”
Lisaʼs popularity in the show was immense, and she still has a devoted following of ʻMandy groupiesʼ today. Along with co-star Dominic Brunt, who played her husband, Paddy Kirk, she holds the distinction of taking part in the only ʻtwo-handedʼ episode in the showʼs history, a feat which pushed the skills of both actors to the limits with its emotional intensity, but was none-the-less accomplished with aplomb.
After a tearjerker exit from Emmerdale, Lisa stepped into the shoes of the legendary Jeremy Beadle to present her very own style Youʼve Been Framed. “That was really daunting at first,” says Lisa. “Itʼs a huge risk taking over from an institution like Jeremy, God rest his soul, but I managed to take the show to over thirteen million viewers!
“But the greatest thing it did for me was introduce the public to Lisa. For the first time in years people stopped calling me Mandy!”
This is a chat that could have gone on all afternoon were it not for the ticking clock heralding the time to get ready for another performance.
“Weʼve got to brush up on our pole dancing before the show,” grins Julie. “If someone hadʼve said to me a couple of years ago that Iʼd be able to hang upside down on a pole, holding on with my legs..!”
“I never knew I could get my legs so high!” agrees Lisa with that familiar, cheeky chuckle.
And thatʼs as may be, but what really makes The Naked Truth sizzle is the fine acting talents and on-stage chemistry of these seasoned performers.
Long may the line-up continue!
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