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Your new movie Kill Kane - what is it about, and what can you
tell us about your character in it?
Kill
Kane is an exciting new British vigilante thriller starring Vinnie Jones
as a man on a mission to avenge the death of his family. I play his wife,
Kim Brookes, so have a few key scenes with him including witnessing the
gangland execution, which sets the whole chain of events off. How did you get involved with the project in the
first place? I
auditioned for the role with several self-taped scenes from the script
which were sent off to the director and producer. The producer had
actually offered me a project the year before which I had been unable to
accept, but timing-wise the shoot worked perfectly for me this time
around.
What can you tell us about your director
Adam Stephen Kelly [Adam Stephen
Kelly interview - click here], and what was your collaboration like?
I
loved working with Adam the director. I would describe him as a quiet
intellectual with great ideas who is happy to collaborate with actors and
take their own interpretation on board. He is very up and coming, and
already award-winning with a short film, so one to watch, and I am happy
to have forged a personal friendship with him also.
Do
talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
shoot was frenetic and stressful due to it being a low-budget movie and
extremely ambitious, as we had to pack it all into nine days! Luckily we
made good friendships and had Adam overseeing everything. I am confident
we created a good movie.
Any
future projects you'd like to share? I
have just secured a fabulous new agent, A.I.M. Management, so while things
are in the pipeline I can't say too much except that next year is already
looking exciting. Meanwhile I am playing Wicked Queen in Snow White at the
Oakengates Theatre Telford for Christmas, and recording a new album with
renowned songwriter and producer Don Mescall due out early next year. And
my Bad Girls series' 4 and 5, in which I played Snowball Merriman, are
re-screening currently on CBS Action.
What got you into
acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? I
always wanted to be an actress and singer, and trained in musical theatre
at the Guildford School of Acting, however my career has mainly involved
acting and singing as two separate entities. I love them equally.
Even if you might have already grown tired of
talking about it, I'd be amiss if I didn't ask you a question about Bad
Girls - so do talk about that series and your involvement in it
for a bit? And what was it like to bring the series to the stage as a
musical?
I
never grow tired of talking about Bad Girls. I think it is and was a
phenomenal franchise and it was my big break. It was groundbreaking in
terms of subject matter at the time, and the first primetime mainstream
drama where all the protagonists were strong female characters. I had five
recalls for the role of Snowball Merriman and the producers kept changing
their minds during that time as to where she was from, so it is lucky I am
good at accents! They eventually settled on Wigan even though I am
actually from Dorset. Consequently people often assume I am northern, and
I have since played a few northerners including semi-regular Veronica in Emmerdale. I was a lead role in
Bad Girls series 4 and 5 until my
character hanged herself. It is currently repeating on CBS.
Following
my exit from the series, the same producers and writers had decided to put
Bad Girls on the stage in the form of a musical based on series 1-3, and
knowing my training and background they asked me to play Shell Dockley,
the original blonde Bad Girl. I did every workshop and professional
performance, the West End run, the DVD and the original cast recording. I
also won a TMA theatre award for Best Supporting Actress, so I am
eternally grateful to Bad Girls for my career both on stage and screen.
Other past films and TV shows of yours you'd
like to talk about?
As
I said, I am lucky to have a talent for accents and my roles have been
very varied. I was from Suffolk in Kingdom with Stephen Fry and Jack Dee;
London in The Bill and Bad Girls: The Musical; northern in
Emmerdale and
Bad Girls; west country in Casualty the first time, then RP (Queen's
English) for my regular role as Dr Heather Lincoln; and just used my own
voice for Kill Kane and Top Dog, the movie I shot two years ago with
Martin Kemp directing and starring Leo Gregory, Jason Flemyng and Vincent
Regan. On stage and for corporate films I have been all over America,
Scotland, Ireland, etc. I have even done a voiceover in Welsh! So it's
great to be able to vary. Besides making movies you also have
done quite a bit of stage acting - so what can you tell us about that
aspect of your career, and how does performing in front of a live audience
compare to acting in front of a movie camera? I
love the thrill and adrenaline rush of performing in front of a live
audience, my favourite ever being singing in front of 4,000 people at the
Royal Albert Hall in aid of Leukaemia Research for the TV Times Carols
with the Stars Concert, singing live with a 22 piece orchestra. I have
been fortunate to do so four years running. It raises important awareness,
funds for the charity, and is the most incredible but nerve-wracking
experience. The adrenaline you get from performing live I can only compare
to paragliding off a 6,500-ft mountain (which I have also done). It's
phenomenal as you only have yourself to rely on, and if you go wrong you
want the earth to swallow you up. With TV and film you still have to get
it right, especially when you are on a time limit or tight budget, but it
is less about your actual performance in that moment as there is usually
the chance to retake if something goes wrong and you often don't get to
see the results or get a reaction to your work until months later. It is
totally different. I am lucky to have a career in which I do a good mix of
both. How would
you describe yourself as an actress, and some of your techniques to bring
your characters to life? I
just do it ! Lots of research too. I am quite academic. I think about how
I would want something to appear as an audience member and what it takes
to elicit the required response from the audience. It is fairly
calculated. I am really not a method actress.
Besides being an actress,
you're also a singer, right? So do talk about Nicole Faraday, the singer,
for a bit, and your preferred musical style(s)?
I
have always loved music and am a great musical impersonator, hence I have
portrayed a lot of real life people on stage as a singer and actress, for
example Agnetha from Abba, Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors, Edith Piaf, and
most notably Eva Cassidy on three UK number one tours. In my own concerts
and gigs I sing songs by female singers who inspired me growing up, and
people often say that I sound just like the originals such as Karen
Carpenter, Kate Bush, Janis Ian, Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega and The
Bangles. I have a new solo album coming out next year with a mixture of
some covers and originals. I just performed in Tubular Bells Live, the
first live concert version of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and other
songs from his back catalogue with the original producer, Tom Newman, and
several of the original musicians who played on the albums and toured with
Mike, for fans from all over the world. I sang the songs made famous by
Maggie Reilly, and most notably Moonlight Shadow accompanied by Phil
Spalding, the bassist from the original record who played the actual bass
he used on it. So it was really exciting. Your
favourite movies? ... and of course, films you really
deplore?
My
favourite movie of all time is The Princess Bride. I wanted to be her. It
is the perfect mix of fantasy, old school fairytale, comedy, and of course
true love. I am also a big fan of Labyrinth. Can you tell I'm a
fantasist?! I also love Gone with the Wind and The English Patient as
epics. Oh, and as a fan of Pink Floyd, their seminal movie The Wall had a
big effect on me when I was a teenager.
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I generally don't like boring boy films with no plot, just lots of action,
which is why I liked the script of Kill Kane as there is a lot more to it
than that. Your website, Facebook, whatever else? Please
see more at
www.nicolefaraday.co.uk
and find me on Twitter as @Nickyfar and Facebook under Nicole Faraday. Thanks
for the interview!
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