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