Father Ted legend ‘nervous’ about fan reaction to new Coronation Street role
Coronation Street newcomer Pauline McLynn is feeling the pressure of her new role a Maggie Driscoll on the ITV soap, despite huge success in TV including Father Ted
The huge responsibility of playing Maggie Driscoll on Coronation Street is not lost on soap newcomer Pauline McLynn(Image: ITV)
The “huge responsibility” of playing Maggie Driscoll on Coronation Street is not lost on soap newcomer Pauline McLynn.
Despite an extensive acting career and famous roles in hit series including Father Ted, Pauline confessed she’s “nervous” about the latest job. Stating it has “enormous expectation”, the actress told The Mirror that she’s desperate to get it right.
Giving herself a talk to ensure she does best every day, Pauline confessed there’s a lot of pressure on her, not only playing a strong older woman but also being from Ireland, where the ITV soap is hugely popular. She explained: “I’m getting really nervous about it, because it’s such a huge responsibility.
“Not only to be in the long line of strong women, especially older women. Nobody’s washed up in Corrie because they’re over 40, that’s when life begins for the characters! There’s the responsibility of that, but also of how big the show is in people’s lives, both here and in Ireland.
Coronation Street newcomer Pauline McLynn is feeling the pressure of her new role a Maggie Driscoll(Image: ITV)
“The pace is blistering, and the expectation is enormous. I had to have a little chat with myself and say, ‘Make sure every day is a 110% day – or else!’”
Pauline says she joining the show is “huge” and she doesn’t want to “mess it up”. She said: “It’s lovely, really. When you join something as huge as Coronation Street, you just don’t want to mess it up.
“You want everyone, the cast, crew, fans, to be proud. If not, I’ll just blame everyone else. ‘They made me look bad! I was just trying my best! They didn’t put the camera on me for the good bit!’ And that’s not true, actually.
“There’s three cameras on you at all times, so if they don’t get the shot it means it really wasn’t great!” Pauline also questioned if her new co-stars had even seen her as Mrs Doyle in hit sitcom Father Ted, but she soon learned otherwise.
Pauline played Mrs Doyle in Father Ted(Image: Channel 4)
She explained: “During my first week here, nobody mentioned Father Ted at all, which is fine. Why should they? I began to think that maybe nobody had seen it!
“Then one day, during a rehearsal, I came into the back room where Jodie Prenger and Sue Devaney were on their break and said, ‘Are you having your break here? Great. Can I get you a snack? A cup of tea? Ah, go on…’
“It was just for fun while we were running our lines and suddenly I heard the crew whisper, ‘She’s doing it!’ and I said, ‘I know that’s not in the script, but I thought we’d better get it out of the way!’.”
