Roxanne Pallett’s career has been hugely varied since she left Carlisle 15 years ago.

Now 33, she is about to star on the London stage and in a new film. She talks to us about her life...

You’re about to star in Some Girl(s) at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. What’s the play about?
Some Girl(s) is written by Tony award-winning playwright Neil LaBute and was last performed 10 years ago starring Friends’ star David Schwimmer.

It’s about a man who is about to get married. He takes a journey to visit his four ex-girlfriends across America, all of whom he mistreated.

Each meeting takes place in a hotel room and the audience witness each awkward encounter.

I play Tyler from Chicago who is a bohemian, free-spirited type with no filter or boundaries. She uses her playful, spontaneous manner as seduction and tries to entice Guy to have one last fling before his wedding. She’s rebellious on the surface but deep down she just wants to be loved.

Can you identify with her and her situation?
I can relate to Tyler in some ways and in other ways we are worlds apart. Our director Gary Condes had each of us in floods of tears on day one of rehearsals by using emotional memory of our experiences and relating those moments to our characters’ journey.


Some Girl(s) Spending a day crying and baring your soul in a room full of actors was pretty crazy, but we have now found real depth to our roles. My co-star Carley Stenson and I went to Starbucks afterwards with mascara down our cheeks looking like absolute wrecks! The technique worked though. I may be from Carlisle and not Chicago, but I found a common bond with my character. We are both extremely vulnerable beneath an armour of confidence.

How is theatre different to film and TV? Do you enjoy any of those more than the others?
With theatre there’s a buzz in the air because it’s live each night and the audience are right there in front of you. You can’t edit anything. Each show has a different feel and anything can happen so it gives you a real discipline. TV is very quick-paced and you have to be very efficient for continuity. Film allows you more freedom with stunts and content.

What do you enjoy about acting?
I’ve always found a real escapism in acting. When I was 16 and my family lost our home in Currock to a house fire, which was followed by my grandma’s death after a battle with cancer a few months later, I was truly broken and lost.

My friends were all being carefree teenagers going out to celebrate GCSEs and I remember feeling numb with grief.

It was a chapter in my life that could’ve really been damaging but acting saved me. The drama rooms at Trinity School became my hideout and the scripts became my therapy to forget about my reality.

Two teachers, Mrs Jones and Mr Hick, really believed in me and fed my ambition with guidance and I’ll never forget their support.

Seventeen years on I’m still losing and finding myself in characters on a page. I think everyone can relate to this in some way, whether it be a sport or music that helps take them away somewhere where they feel invincible.

Is there an element of becoming someone else for a while?
Yes, Robert De Niro said it best when he said “One of the things about acting is it allows you to live other people’s lives without having to pay the price.”

What’s been your favourite role?


In Devil’s Tower

Each character I’ve played is like a dear friend I’ve made. Jo in Emmerdale will always have an extra special place in my heart. There’s also been Sarah MacColl in the movie Devil’s Tower who I feel very protective and proud of too. The more vulnerable the role, the more love I feel for it.

You’ve been in quite a few horror films and have been called Britain’s new ‘scream-queen’. Are you drawn to them or are their directors drawn to you?

I’ve become a strong part of the horror movie franchise over the last few years which is a huge honour. To work with 20th Century Fox two years ago was pretty incredible and to play such strong leading heroines in a genre that is so celebrated by audiences is a massive acclaim.

Do you ever get scared when you watch a horror film you’ve been in?
I’m much better at performing in a horror film than watching one. I wish I could watch horror movies but 10 minutes in, I’m hiding behind a cushion! The horror films I’ve starred in are fine to watch because I know it’s not real and I watch my work with a critical eye and a creative mind valuing the shots and the edit etc. However, when I take my mum and my friends to the premieres in London, they all freak out if I have a death scene!

Are you still living in Cheshire?
I’ve recently relocated to London, but I have my main home in Cheshire as I love the north and look forward to getting back there between projects. That’s where my mam Monica is too, so I’m always back and forth as I can’t go too long without my mam.

How long is it since you left Carlisle?
I actually left Carlisle 15 years ago when I went to university in Liverpool. Although it feels like only yesterday that I was walking down Bank Street to go for a hot chocolate in John Watts. I have such precious memories of going to the Lonsdale Cinema with my grandma and then to Gianni’s for a pizza for our tea on a Saturday if she won at the bingo.

Every street holds a memory for me. My first date was on the banks of Carlisle Castle. We shared a KitKat and listened to The Beatles on his Walkman. I tell everyone I meet to visit Carlisle as Cumbria is one of the most beautiful places in the world to me.

I try and visit at least once a year to see friends. I came back last summer to see my oldest school friend Marc and his wife who had just had twins. When he texted me, I flew back from the States immediately and came straight to the Cumberland Infirmary. No matter what, those moments are the most important things over any job. People think success means happiness, but happiness is actually success. My friendships and relationships are always prioritised.

What do you miss about Carlisle?
I always feel happy when I think of Carlisle. Especially Currock. I love the Cumbrian accent and although I’ve lost it a little with living away for over a decade, it comes back when I speak to my Carlisle friends on the phone.

I was telling my friend from Carlisle that I’d fallen over in front of Jerry Springer and he had helped me up. My friend simply replied “What a shan”, which made me so happy I could’ve cried, as it’s a word we used to always say at school in Carlisle. I love the charm of Cumbrian slang words. They make me feel like I’m home again.

Do you get recognised when home?
Yes, and although I will never get used to it as being normal, because I get quite embarrassed at times, I do take it as a huge compliment and a testament to whatever work the person recognises me from.

I love it more when someone stops me and says “I knew your grandad Ian” or “I worked with your grandma at the Metal Box”. That’s what makes me most proud, being born and bred in Carlisle and known as Ian and Monica Pallett’s granddaughter from Currock. I’d like to think I’m making them both proud.

Is it hard to strike a balance between keeping your profile up and maintaining your privacy?
I think everyone is the architect to their own life. There’s no right or wrong, it’s just personal taste on how much you choose to share. I prefer to let my work do the talking though. I’d much rather people focused on something I’ve created on stage or screen rather than who I’m dating or what outfit I wear to an event. Having a profile can have its bad moments, but I like to focus on the good, which is having a voice for charities and campaigns. I was recently made an ambassador for The Samaritans and Age UK, which are both very dear to my heart.

You were a volunteer at Carlisle’s Eden Valley Hospice as a teen. Are local hospices still important to you?
Absolutely. I always strive to work with my charities, even from afar by donating items to auction from TV and film. It means a lot to me that I raise awareness for those campaigns and charities, especially in Cumbria like the Eden Valley Hospice and Hospice at Home which I came from London to visit last summer for their Garden of Memories and Colour Run. I know how important these charities are to the families of those battling illness.

Your film The Violators has just hit cinemas and has had five-star reviews.
We filmed The Violators a couple of years ago in Merseyside. It’s a joy to see it released and winning so much acclaim. It’s a gritty story based on a teenage girl’s battle in the hope of a better life. I play Carla, the girlfriend of loan shark Mikey Finnegan played by Stephen Lord, who is an amazing actor. Carla is a big fish in a little pond on the rundown estate and she makes it known not to threaten her relationship with Mikey.


Roxanne Pallett and Ray Quinn in The Wedding Singer You’ll have a lead role as Holly on the UK tour of The Wedding Singer musical which opens next February.
I am such an 80s kid so this is a dream come true. Holly is the comedic role. She’s a wild one with some incredible numbers and a costume to rival Madonna’s so I’m beyond excited! We have Ray Quinn and also Ruth Madoc from Hi-De-Hi, as well as some brilliant West End stars in the cast. We tour to cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Sunderland and Glasgow, so I hope to see the Irvings Coaches again like when I did Rocky Horror. It means so much when my home town come to see me on stage as they were my very first audience who believed in me.

You seem to be working non-stop at the moment. What do you do to relax?
When I’m not on stage or on set, I just love doing simple things like going to the cinema, getting dinner with friends or taking my mum to get our nails done. I read books like The Secret and The Power. There is something true about giving back what the universe sends us, to stay grateful and humble and pay it forward to the next person.


Roxanne stars in Some Girl(s) at Park Theatre, London, from July 14 until August 6. Visit www.parktheatre.co.uk for ticket details