Simone Loveday
Hollyoaks newcomer Simone Loveday made an immediate impact as she joined the village last month, taking over Price Slice with a strict and no-nonsense attitude.
Simone made an enemy of Cindy Cunningham by sacking her from the shop, but Cindy's replacement Theresa McQueen didn't fare much better as she was also fired after less than a day!
Jacqueline Boatswain as Simone Loveday in Hollyoaks
© Lime Pictures
Jacqueline Boatswain as Simone Loveday
The bossy new arrival is part of Hollyoaks' latest family to shake up the village. Fans have already met Simone's son Zack, while her husband Louis makes his first appearance this week.
Digital Spy recently caught up with Jacqueline Boatswain, who plays Simone, for some gossip on her character's future.
Has it been easy to settle in at Hollyoaks?
"It can be hectic getting your head around everything, but it's been really fun too. Everyone on the show is really friendly and helpful, which helps you to settle in right away. The rest of the cast are always coming up and introducing themselves.
"I've got no sense of direction, so I'm often seen standing in the corridor truly looking lost! It doesn't matter who it is, everybody will always say, 'Are you okay? Where are you trying to get to?' Everybody is really great at helping you to settle in. That's brilliant, because it's a lot to take on and there's a lot going on!"
When did you first hear about the role of Simone?
"It was at the beginning of November and then I had an initial audition in London. Afterwards I had a second audition in London, where I met the show's executive producer Bryan Kirkwood. Then I had my final audition in Liverpool, so for me the process wasn't too long.
"It's funny because I was here years ago when I was in Grange Hill, which was filmed in the same building, so it was a bit like going back to your home town when you haven't been there for years - you know it but you don't!"
How were the Loveday family put together?
"You have what they call 'chemistry readings' when you're part of a family. They set you up with a couple of actors they think you might fit with, and then you do six or seven scenes together. I've done lots of auditions for telly before, but Hollyoaks had a process that I've never done before where they actually brought us onto the set and we had a director, cameraman and lighting. The producers were in another room watching on a monitor, so it was like we were actually doing an episode. That was interesting and slightly alarming because it wasn't what I was initially expecting, but I can see why that works!
"I was cast first and then I had to come back to audition with actors for my husband. Afterwards, Karl Collins and I auditioned with four young actors to potentially be our son. So it seemed to go on for quite a long time to put the whole family together."
When you were put together with Karl and your on-screen son Duayne Boachie, did you have a good feeling from the start?
"Karl and I are friends anyway, so that's brilliant. We've worked together before as we did a comedy together and we've been friends ever since. That made it easier because when you already have a relationship with somebody, you already have a language together and I think that chemistry just shows. It's a lot easier than when you're having to audition with a complete stranger and you have to manufacture those feelings.
"For the role of Zack, all four of the young men were really fabulous, but we did put it down to Duayne and one other that we would have been most happy with."
How would you describe Simone?
"I think she's honest, she's very business-like and she likes things to be done right! She has standards and some might say she's a snob, but she doesn't think so! If she's in charge of Price Slice and people are working for her, then they'll have to do things her way."
Your early scenes with Jorgie Porter and Steph Waring have been fun to watch! Was it important to give those early scenes a comic edge?
"Yes, I think so because otherwise Simone would have just been hard and horrible, and I wanted her to be a more rounded character than that. I wanted her to have a twinkle, as you don't want her to be a big baddie from the off."
Cindy meets Simone Loveday
© Lime Pictures
Simone with Cindy
What kind of feedback have you seen from the fans?
"It's been really positive, actually. Some people clearly don't like Simone, but that's to be expected! Some people are saying that she's giving Cindy as good as she gets! It's been positive all round - they like the comedy side of things, so I feel hopeful moving forward with Simone. I've seen people retweeting her catchphrase 'tell me I'm wrong' and that's great!"
Will Simone show a softer side?
"Yeah, she will. I think she has already shown a bit of a softer side when she offered Theresa the job at Price Slice, even though it was to get back at Cindy. When Theresa was talking about Mercedes being missing and how the McQueens didn't know if she was dead or not, I think that Simone really started to show her softer side. I'm sure there'll be more of that to come."
Is there anyone in the village you can see Simone becoming friends with?
"I don't know how impressed Simone will be about the calibre of the people! (Laughs.) The jury's out on who she'd deem worthy of her friendship, so we'll see. Maybe someone at the school as Louis is deputy head there."
Can you tell us about the dynamic between the family?
"They are a really close-knit family and very loving. The boys do make fun of Simone, but it's all very good-natured. Louis and Zack are very protective of Simone and she of them, so they're a strong family unit. As husband and wife, Simone and Louis are in love and they just get on, through the trials and tribulations of everyday life. They've got a good friendship."
Are there some interesting things to learn about the Lovedays?
"There are definitely some interesting things to learn! Everybody has a past, just like in real life. Everybody has a story and the Lovedays are no different."
Have the producers told you all of the family secrets?
"In the audition, they gave me a few ideas and pointers of what they were thinking of. I guess when you're auditioning they need to see if you can play those kind of scenes. We were given lots of contrasting scenes so they could see our range."
When the show brings in a new family, is it a two-way process? Do you get any input?
"Very much so. We had an initial meeting before we started filming, where the whole family came up to the set. We were there with Bryan, the series producers and the writers. They gave us the bare bones of the ideas that they had, and then we fleshed it out with how Simone and Louis met, where they met and why they are the way they are as a family.
"We're the ones who flesh it out and we very much have input into certain types of things. For example, if they have it in the script that we're into a certain type of music, we could say, 'No, that's not what we're about, we're about this type of music'. It's very much a collaborative process."
Do you ever get nervous when you start a new job?
"I get excited! I think I do get nervous too, but it's more about coming into something that's already established and fitting in. As a piece of the jigsaw, you want to be able to fit in properly, do the best that you can do, and give them what it is that they're asking for. They're nerves that you have to control, as you can't let them influence the work that you're doing."
Aside from your on-screen family, who have you made friends with?
"You end up speaking to everybody, but the people you spend time with the most are the people you share a dressing room with or the people you're in scenes with. I share a dressing room with Helen Pearson and Alex Fletcher, so I've been getting to know them. I've also spent quite a bit of time with Kieron Richardson, James Sutton, Jeremy Sheffield and Steph Waring, as we do a lot of our scenes with them.
"It's usually the time in-between takes when you really get to know each other. Unless you're in a scene with someone, you either see them around the lunch table in the green room or whizzing past each other in the corridor!"
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