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Gaynor Faye has recounted a memorable four years on Coronation Street and wishes that the door had been left open for her character Judy Mallett to return.
Judy appeared in a golden era of Britain’s longest-running soap between September 1995 and October 1999, before literally falling to her death on the cobbles due to an undetected blood clot.
Now, almost 27 years later, Gaynor wishes that the character could have been ushered out in a different way.
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Speaking to WhichBingo, the home of the best bingo sites, she said: “I loved playing Judy. Honestly, I didn't realise how fortunate I was — well, I did realise, because they were the golden years of Corrie.
"It was all the old stalwarts, even Percy Sugden was in the show. I just loved it.
“That era of Corrie was huge and had so many incredible characters. Judy and Gary Mallett were like the young Duckworths — they came in as these young ones, and even Vera called Judy 'dog rough.' You wouldn't be able to get away with that these days.
“I think because the character was very funny and a bit gobby, but actually she had loads of heart — and that's what you want in a character. You want somebody who can say what they want, but also have real emotion.
“Once they realised I could do the drama side of it as well, the comedy stopped, and I got lots more drama, like the kidnapping of the child.
"Joanne Froggatt came in — look how she's doing now, doing crazy well — she played Zoe, who came in and stole Judy's child. That was massive, a huge storyline.
“Whereas now the stories are kind of all the time, you're constantly getting dramatic storylines in soap. Back then a big story like that would go over a year.
“I feel really fortunate that I played that character, and in lots of ways I wish she hadn't been killed off, because I could have come back. But it was early days of my career and I wanted to go off and do other things.
“I remember the producer saying, we need to give her something huge because the characters so loved — she can't just go off in the back of a taxi. So sadly she died. But I did say, with all these resurrections from the dead, could Judy Mallett come back? Never rule anything out!”
Gaynor’s more immediate focus is the British comedy film due for release in October called Hot Flash, where she plays a single mum called Geri who is going through the challenges of menopausal symptoms.
“I literally feel like I am Geri, the character I was portraying,” she explained. But I've also been to lots of different groups — there's Find Your Midlife Magic, lots of menopause groups, loads of podcasts, like The Well Woman.
“I try to go to a lot of things like that, so you feel like you're not alone when you're going, ‘am I going out of my mind?
"What's happening to my skin, my brain, my body, my everything?’ I also see somebody called Melissa who's got a menopause clinic, so she sorts out my hormones.
“I generally love people; I love finding out what's going on for them in life. So my research for the role was the fact that I know exactly what she's going through.
"That was the great thing about the synergy between me and Jan [Birley – the film’s writer and producer]. Jan's on the other side of the menopause, I'm going into it, and our director is in it too. So we were literally women who could completely relate to everything Jan had written.”
Gaynor was also keen to highlight the overriding message of the film, and hopes that women can embrace the ageing process.
“I really want women to not feel invisible anymore,” she continued.
“We're not past it or has-beens. I want people to rejoice in the fact that this is just a change — it's something not to worry about; these things happen. If we make women feel seen and heard and represented on screen, then they won't feel like they're going mad.
“I know a lot of women think they're getting early dementia or something's wrong with their brain, because these are quite strong things that happen to you.
"The whole point is I want women to feel represented in this era of their life. It's a good 10 years or longer where you have a massive change — but don't see the change for the worst, see it for the better.
“It's a massive transformation and it's not necessarily a bad thing; it's just a change. And I'm assured that at the other side of it, you feel great.
"I'm really hoping so, because I'm a real people pleaser, and as much as I love people pleasing, it's exhausting. So to get to the other side and go, ‘I don't care so much about what people think of me’ — that would be wonderful.”