Interview: Sheridan Smith talks The C Word
What attracted you to the project?
Lisa got in touch with me and asked me to play her. I was on holiday and read the script by the pool. I cried buckets and said immediately I’d be honoured. There was no doubt in my mind when I read it that it was special. I was then lucky enough to become text buddies with Lisa. The fact that she asked me to play her was such a huge honour.
Tell us about Lisa and how she changes across the course of the film?
Lisa’s journey is unbelievable. She was incredible; I’ve never met anyone so inspiring. Her love of life was infectious and you go on a journey with this young, beautiful girl who’s just got married, she’s the editor of a magazine, everything’s going great and then she gets diagnosed with breast cancer. But she’s such a fighter that she doesn’t let it get her down. She takes to her blog as a release and she’s the wittiest, funniest writer. Her strength all the way through is infectious. She gets her whole family on board and they’re supportive. She doesn’t let it beat her. She was just special and both the book she wrote and the way she wrote it, was inspirational. Nicole has captured that completely in the script.
Have you met Lisa’s family?
All her family, and Pete, her lovely husband, came to set and that was a special day. They’ve been nothing but supportive so you can see where she got it from because they are just the most wonderful, wonderful people. They’re so proud of her. They wanted to get it made and even though she’s not with us we finally did.
What do you hope people will take from it?
Cancer touches so many people’s lives, so I think her voice being heard will hopefully get families talking more about it. Her blog is still visited regularly by people and she’s carrying on, she’s helping people even though she’s gone away. We haven’t made it into a morbid programme because she was about celebrating life. I think it will be nice for people to watch and hopefully take Lisa’s sparkle
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