Collette Mann - Sheila Canning Interview
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There have been plenty of new additions to Neighbours in the past 12 months, but Sheila Canning is proving to be one of the standouts and is now a regular character on Ramsay Street.
Since arriving back on UK screens in January following time away, outspoken Sheila has landed a new job at Charlie's and has also been keeping an eye on her grandson Kyle's complicated love life!
Colette Mann, who plays Sheila, recently chatted to Digital Spy about life on Neighbours and what's coming up for her character.
You've been with Neighbours for a while, but now Sheila is a permanent fixture on the Street. How are you finding your time on the show as a regular character?
"There is a familiarity now with the character which makes things feel a lot more natural. I'm really enjoying it. The cast and crew are great and I love working!"
Most fans seem to agree that Sheila has been a fantastic addition to the cast!
"That's so nice to hear. Look, she's a tough old bird, but she definitely has some endearing characteristics. It's just sometimes a little harder to find those - but she is a first-class meddler!"
Sheila is certainly a very outspoken character! Do you share any similarities with her in real life?
"That, sadly, is probably the only quality I share with Sheila. We both do speak our minds when it's required. However, I think - or hope - I choose my moments better than she does. But I love it when she tells Paul what she thinks."
How involved have you been in the creation of Sheila? Are you given room to put your own stamp on the character?
"When you're playing a regular character, you certainly get to know them better than anyone - so you almost subconsciously add layers, it just happens. The producers have allowed me great leeway with her lines - and now all the directors have just given in to me, which is lovely of them."
Last year you took some time away from Neighbours to appear in a play. Are you hoping to continue juggling Neighbours with other projects?
"The play had been in the pipeline before I took on the role of Sheila and at the time, she was a guest character. Now she is a regular, taking those sort of sabbaticals is more difficult, but I don't mind as I'm loving what I'm doing."
What is your co-star Christopher Milligan, who plays Kyle, like to work with?
"He is heaven on a stick, and one of the most prepared young actors I've worked with. The relationship between us on screen and off is one of the most valued friendships I have had in my life. But I admit there is probably way too much laughing going on when we do work together!"
At the moment, Sheila is quite concerned that Georgia is trying to seduce Kyle. Do you think there's any chance that Sheila could warm to Georgia in the long run?
"I think everyone goes through a screening process with Sheila, but what you have to remember is that family is everything to her, so her grandson's welfare will always come first. She will give anyone close to him a really hard time for a while."
There's also a real rivalry between Sheila and Lou Carpenter, but usually in soapland, there's a fine line between love and hate! Do you think there's any chance of a Sheila/Lou romance?
"No, I think these characters work best when they are at each other's throats, and that also provides much more scope for the writers in terms of humour. Besides, Tom and I did that when I stood in for Caroline Gillmer in 1995!"
As you mentioned there, you took over from Caroline in the role of Cheryl Stark for a short time in 1995. What are your memories of that experience?
"I was told on the Friday that I was starting on the Monday. As we were filming, the different actors in the scenes were wheeled in, and someone was on the sideline explaining who they were, what our relationship was and handed me my lines. It was like that for the first two weeks. But I think I got better eventually."
After appearing temporarily as Cheryl, did you ever imagine that you'd be back on Neighbours so many years later?
"It's certainly not unusual to return to Ramsay Street. Just in my relatively short time on the show, we've had quite a number of former cast return for guest appearances - Nicola Charles, Kirsty Child and Melissa Bell - so I have to admit it was on my bucket list, and now I am back as my own character!"
Did that early experience on Neighbours help to prepare you for joining second time around, or is the show completely different now?
"Well, that was a long time ago and I've done a lot since then, but part of this business is being able to adapt to new situations.
"The fundamentals of the show are the same, but it's moved with the times in terms of the way it is shot. And of course, technology has advanced and the style of acting has been refined. I would be a bit nervous if things had not changed!"
Neighbours fans were crying out for another 'grandparent' character for a long time before Sheila came along. Do you think the show has the balance right now in terms of age groups?
"Yes, I do actually. The Kennedys, Lou and Sheila fill the matriarchal and patriarchal roles, and then you have the new parents, the Turners and, coming up, the Willises. Then there's the next tier with Toadie and Sonya, Lucas and Vanessa, then Kate, Kyle, Georgia and Chris, and then the teenagers, so I think it is very balanced."
With lots of new kids arriving on the Street, do you think we'll see Sheila become a figure who the youngsters can turn to for advice?
"Gosh, is that a good thing? I'm sure Sheila will be very happy to offer her 'incredible wisdom' where she feels it is needed. Whether it will be useful, or indeed whether the young ones actually ask for it… well, that's another thing!"
Are there any plans for new Cannings to join the Street?
"Well my two other grandsons have visited, so you never know, do you?"
Can you give us any extra hints on the stories you're filming at the moment?
"Sheila is very busy sorting out Kyle's love life - it's a full-time job! However, her attention is somewhat diverted by a visitor to Erinsborough. That's all I can say for the moment, watch this space."
Given your connection with the show, how do you feel about Prisoner being remade?
"I am thrilled to see good-quality drama being made again with strong roles for women. It is what gave me my real start in TV and I have a soft spot for the old series, but am excited to see this new one because we in this industry have all learned so much in the last 35 years - it is going to be a smash. And it's one less reality show… oooh, did I just say that out loud?"
'Neighbours' Colette Mann: 'Things get really bad for Sheila'
Neighbours' UK fans will see a whole new side to Sheila Canning this fortnight as she starts suffering from anxiety following a frightening encounter.
Sheila is chasing after a sleepwalking Chris Pappas (James Mason) one night when she is hassled by an unsavoury guy, whose behaviour leaves her deeply shaken.
Digital Spy recently chatted to Colette Mann, who plays Sheila, to hear more about the storyline and life behind the scenes at Neighbours.
Are you still enjoying your time on Neighbours?
"I really love it. The role has come along at a really good time in my life. I do love to work, so I'm very lucky to have this job and to work with such gorgeous people. We laugh all the time. Even today, I had a really long day but most of it was spent laughing. A bit of time I was doing some acting, but mostly I was laughing!
"I get on amazingly well with the young people on the show, and some of the older people I've worked with so much before. I never felt like I was a new person coming into the show, as they accepted me straight away. I really love going to work, and that's a great thing to have, isn't it?"
Are you happy with the way Sheila's character is developing?
"I'm really liking the way the character is now fitting in, and I feel like I have a hold of her. Today I was doing some scenes and the crew were laughing at me - which is what they usually do, sometimes when I'm trying to do my dramatic work! There was a line in the script and the crew asked, 'Was that your line or did they put that one in for you?' I do ad-lib a lot, but in this case it was an actual written line. The cameraman said, 'They're starting to get you - they're starting to write just like you talk!' That's really great."
What kind of response have you seen to the character of Sheila?
"I just thought I was going to pop in for six weeks, play the doting grandmother and then I'd disappear behind a bush in Ramsay Street and never be seen again! But from the first six weeks, even though nothing had gone to air, the producers said, 'No, no, we want to keep you'.
"It was nearly four months before my first scenes went to air that year, and I didn't expect anybody to really notice, even in Australia. But it's extraordinary that the recognition factor is almost as strong as it was when I was in Prisoner. That's saying something, because when Prisoner first started in Australia, it was like we were rock stars.
"I'm not saying that's exactly how it is now, but lots and lots of young people watch the show and talk to me in the supermarket as if I'm Sheila. Mostly they want to know about my grandson, they're not that interested in me! But I'm really thrilled that she's been so accepted.
"They also taught us all how to do Twitter at work, and I'm just amazed at how many UK fans I've got. One minute I had four followers and now I've got a few thousand. That's really exciting."
Do the younger cast members approach you for advice on set?
"Yes, a great deal. Another thing that I do is teaching - I'm Head of Acting at a school called Patrick Studios Australia, and we run a music theatre course for kids who want to go into musicals. I did a great deal of theatre before I joined Neighbours.
"A lot of the kids at Neighbours now come to me if they have problems with scenes. They do have two drama coaches who work on the show, but sometimes they will ask me questions too. Some of them are also auditioning for things overseas at the moment, so they will come and have private lessons with me at home where I'll help them through some of their scenes.
"Jackie Woodburne (Susan Kennedy) actually said to me today that I've become the mother of the green room, because the kids come and speak to me about their love lives! I think, 'Oh look, I've had two marriages and I wasn't good at either of them, why are they asking me?!' But I think it's just because I'm the oldest there so they think, 'She must know something'. It's also because I tell them I know everything, so that helps! (Laughs.)
"I'm very fond of all the young kids. I had a scene today with that gorgeous Calen MacKenzie who plays Bailey, and I just love him. I love Harley Bonner who plays Josh Willis, James Mason who plays Chris Pappas, and of course I love my grandson. I have three sons of my own, so it's nothing to have a few more 'sons'! The girls are all gorgeous too. What's great is that the kids respect me and they don't treat me like an old fuddy-duddy."
What can you tell us about Sheila's anxiety storyline?
"This story came along after one of those many story meetings that we have. I know that I was brought into the show to provide some comedy, and I enjoy that very much. But at one meeting, everyone was getting very dramatic storylines - whether it's having somebody else's baby, being run over, or killing somebody. I said, 'How come nothing like this ever happens to Sheila?!' They all just looked at me and I said, 'Why can't we find out that she's a man or something?!' (Laughs.)
"Anyway, they came up with this idea that Sheila should have a dramatic storyline. It's tied up with Chris's story, as he's taking his break-up with Hudson really badly. He starts taking sleeping tablets and they cause him to sleepwalk. On the very coldest night on record in Melbourne, I ended up chasing around after him in a nightie, a flimsy dressing gown and a pair of Ugg boots which I demanded I have!
"While Sheila is chasing after Chris, a man pulls up in a car and tries to solicit her, which she doesn't take very well. She thinks it's just one of those things, but she reacts quite badly three or four days later, when it starts to play on her mind."
How do things progress from there?
"Well, because we're a 6.30pm show over here, there are restrictions with what we can do. Naturally they couldn't have the guy touch me or approach me or anything, but I said, 'Look, this is all a bit silly. Sheila is a tough old nut so she'd probably just tell him to get lost and keep walking!'
"There wasn't much we could do about it because of the restrictions, so then we decided that it will come out further in a story, much later on, that this reminded her of a time when a much worse thing happened to her. Back when she was younger and managing the hotels in Frankston, she was attacked by two men in the back car park. So there's a second layer of the story which will come out in three or four months' time.
"What happens first is that Sheila thinks she's alright, but then she starts to have flashbacks. It becomes really bad for her, because she doesn't want to talk about it. The story we're trying to get across is that it's best to share these things."
We asked for reader questions, and lots of people mentioned wanting to see Sheila and Lou together…
"Oh no, that can't happen! (Laughs.) I think Sheila and Lou are better when they're fighting, to be honest. It's a funnier scenario, and I did play Tom Oliver's partner in 1996 for eight weeks when I took over from Caroline Gillmer as Cheryl Stark when she was ill. I've already done the kissing scenes with Tom Oliver, and I think we're both past that now!
"They did bring in Walter, who was Sonya's pretend uncle, played by the gorgeous Chris Haywood. I really, really enjoyed that, but then he turned out to be a bit of a rotter, because nobody can be very happy in Erinsborough for too long, you might have noticed! But as I've said to a number of people since my second marriage broke up, a girl doesn't have to have a bloke to be happy. Sheila is quite happy on her own. I like that she's quite independent.
"I was actually called into the office one day because I'd done a scene with Ryan Moloney and Alan Fletcher, who play Toadie and Karl, and the producers said that I'd gone a little bit too girly and flirty with them! I said, 'Well I did that on purpose!' but apparently I have to rein it in when it's Karl Kennedy and Toadie. Of course, now if I do a scene with Ryan, he does everything he can to flirt with me because he knows we've been told not to do it!"
After starring as Doreen Burns in Prisoner, are you a fan of the remake Wentworth?
"Yes, and I was lucky enough to be part of the show's launch over here. A number of us from Prisoner saw the first episode before anyone else, and they've honoured us greatly. I think it's a brilliant series. They've just started shooting the second series, and it'll be even bigger and better than the first one. There's some fabulous new people coming into the show, as well as the old ones."
Would you like to pay a visit to the UK, as a lot of your colleagues have done for publicity trips?
"Oh yes, what can we do to organise that, do you think? I think it will happen, because I've got some really good storylines coming up. It usually has to coincide with when you have a big storyline on air, but I would love to come to London.
"I did Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in Australia for two and a half years and was also offered the last 12 months of the London run, but I had other commitments in Australia which we couldn't work around. I was in the UK for about three months in 2002 working at Shakespeare's Globe. I loved it and I'd really love to come back."
