Great Things From A Small Screen Star

Evenings News (Scotland), 14 March 2002

By Liam Rudden

AS Sharon Small arrived at the glittering premiere of About A Boy she gazed at the paparazzi lining the red carpet, the bright lights, the expectant faces of the public gathered to see the stars.

But rather than feel thrilled, she was a bag of nerves, questioning whether she should be there at all. She watched as the film's stars - including Hugh Grant - stopped to wave, sign the odd autograph, and pose for the never-ending barrage of exploding flash bulbs.

Eventually plucking up the courage, she opened the door of her limousine, then with her head down she scurried up the carpet with a friend and into the cinema.

The star of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries admits to her nervousness with a sheepish smile. It's a surprisingly modest confession from an actress who, for the past five years, has hardly been off our television screens, starring in a string of popular dramas and playing an impressive variety of characters that have ranged from prostitutes, to romantic leads, to dowdy coppers.

The 35-year-old first came to attention in 1997 when she appeared in No Child of Mine, a hard-hitting drama about child abuse, and Bumping The Odds, set in the violent world of Glasgow's money lenders.

Both dramas were nominated for Baftas and followed two years later by Sunburn in which she played holiday rep Carol Simpson alongside Michelle Collins, before landing the role of Cara Rossi in Glasgow Kiss with Iain Glenn.

These days the diminutive actress is best known as DS Barbara Havers from the Inspector Lynley Mysteries, a part that she never expected to win, as in the original books her character is described as fat, frumpy, and wholly unlikeable.

By comparison Small is petite, pretty, with an ever-present twinkle in her eye that suggests somewhere beneath her pixie-like exterior lurks an wicked sense of humour. Sitting in the "green" dressing room of the Traverse Theatre, where she is currently appearing in Green Field, her face breaks into a broad smile as she says: "When you get a job it is the best feeling ever. So affirming ... but when you don't, your stomach just drops out and you can't help take it personally. Which is why most actors write off a part before they even go for it. That way it doesn't matter if you don't get it."

Which is exactly what Small did when she auditioned for Havers. She recalls: "I never thought I'd get it because I wasn't English; I didn't have a black bowl haircut; and I didn't match the physical description."

In both Sunburn and Glasgow Kiss the actress had played pretty, glamorous, some might even say sexy characters. Havers was to some a real change.

"Yeah right," she splutters, roaring with laughter at the suggestion that anyone might see her as a sex symbol. "Occasionally you see in the tabloids 'sexy Sharon Small'," she says recovering her composure. "But I just think they're looking for adjectives ... Oh God, I'm sounding dull.

"It is great when you see yourself in something like Sunburn," she adds. "You think 'wow, I look like that!' But secretly I know I don't. It's just the difference fancy lighting, good make-up, and great clothes can make. Then when I see myself as Havers I just go 'Oh God, I'm dog rough. I look terrible'."

In fact, some of her peers have called her brave for accepting a part that requires her to look her worst in the safe world of television where only the beautiful excel.

None of which worries her. "I enjoy the challenge and I love dressing up," she states simply, an ethos that, through the Lynley Mysteries, has paid off and made her a household name. However, with that recognition has come press coverage, something she's not always comfortable with.

"I keep reading things I've never said," she says aggrieved. "Or things that I have said which are taken out of context."

This includes tales of her childhood which one paper portrayed as a violent fight for survival on the streets of Drumchapel in Glasgow. All of which she denies, and it's obvious she's wary of giving interviews.

"I was once quoted as saying that if I hadn't gone into acting I would have gone into jail," she says insisting the line was complete fabrication. To put the record straight she adds: "I was born in Drumchapel, but I was actually brought up around Clydebank and my childhood, until we moved to Kinghorn in Fife when I was ten, was fairly typical of any upbringing in a housing scheme, not without scrapping and fighting, but great fun.

"Kinghorn was tamer in as much as there were less 'colourful' characters about. It was this lovely quaint touristy village then and I suppose by comparison Clydebank seemed rougher."

It was at the age of 17, that she announced her intentions to be an actress, and says, it came as a shock to everybody.

"I'd never thought of acting until I went on a tour of Kirkcaldy Technical College with my school," she says. "The minute I walked in I knew it was where I wanted to be. It was the first time I'd ever entertained the idea that drama might be a possibility because, until that moment, I hadn't known what I wanted to do."

Applying for a place on the drama foundation course that boasts Ewan McGregor and Dougray Scot amongst its past successes, she got in.

"What they instilled in me at Kirkcaldy was a very deep discipline of what theatre was all about," she says. "They asked 'do you really want to do this?' and made you question yourself. It's proved a great stepping stone for Scottish actors who wanted to get into drama school."

Having completed her year Small set off for drama school, and London, where she quickly settled and has been based ever since.

Now, with the release of About A Boy, she hopes to follow McGregor and Scott's footsteps into the movies. In her current film she plays opposite Hugh Grant, an actor she admits left her tongue tied on their first meeting, but denies ever snubbing or falling in love with him, despite, what has been reported elsewhere.

"What happened was this. I got asked what was it like working with Hugh. I only worked with him for three days so of course there wasn't going to be any instant chemistry but they kept pushing me; 'Isn't he gorgeous?' they said, so I was like 'yeah he's lovely'.

"But they pushed and pushed and pushed, and in the end I said 'he's just not my type,' which appeared in the headline and was repeated five times in the interview."

She adds: "I was a bit tongue-tied when I met him though, because I was really dumb. I suddenly turned around at the read-through and found myself facing him and having to make conversation. All I could think of saying was 'very good reading'. He just looked and said 'thanks'. I thought 'Oh! What did I say that for?'"

Back on stage for the first time in three years - "the first night I was so nervous" - Small is enjoying being in front of a live audience again, but has success brought contentment?

"It's been a slow curve," she says. "I didn't hit it when I was 22 as so many do. As for content ... I'm manic sometimes, and completely neurotic at other times, but I've got some really fantastic friends in my life and have been lucky enough to make a living at what I set out to do, so yeah. Probably."

Finally, did she really once say that playing DS Havers had 'caused her shagability factor to drop?' Or was that again misreported? "Actually, I probably did say that one," she laughs guiltily, her face flushing.

Green Field runs at The Traverse until Saturday 18th May.

Copyright 2002 Evening News - Scotland.

BACK