Corrie - Patti Clarke (Mad Mary)

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Patti Clarke was so desperate to be on soap she wrote to producers
Sue Crawford
26/08/2010
mirror.co.uk

After the umpteenth knockback from Corrie's casting director, most struggling actors would probably take the hint and give up on their dream of walking down the cobbles. But Patti Clare, who was obsessed with landing a role in her favourite soap, was far from put off by a string of rejection letters. She even wrote her own scene set in the Rover's Return, involving a new character played by her, and fired it off to producers. And they promptly rejected her again, in even stronger terms.

Patti, who plays mad Mary Taylor, says: "I used to write and write to the casting director asking for a job and he'd write back saying, 'Nothing doing at the moment'. I could really see myself in Corrie and was very persistent. So I wrote him a scene making up a character for myself called Cherise, who was to be Raquel's half-sister. She sat in the bar and didn't say anything and wore glasses and was quite dowdy and then Raquel gives her a make-over. I thought it was brilliant, but he wrote back and said, 'No, no, no, no, no, it's not going to happen.'" Eventually though, it did happen.

She was working as an office receptionist when the job offer came through in 2008. "I had a lot of theatre experience, but I'd wanted to go into television for a while," she explains. "I was told I had to take a gamble for a year and turn theatre work down and sit it out. It was terrible. I didn't do any acting for nine months so I worked in an office and the job came in the September." Patti joined as oddball competition winner Mary, who immediately developed a huge unrequited crush on newsagent Norris Cole. She was initially only meant to stay for five episodes, but viewers loved her one-liners and bosses snapped her up.

In her first year in Corrie, Patti came and went, and during her time out she had small parts in Torchwood, Casualty, Young Dracula and Doctors. But mad Mary - timid as a church mouse one minute, semi-psychotic the next - is now a Corrie regular. Although there's one viewer who winces every time she comes on screen - Patti's own mother Pat.

"My mother has such a problem with how I look on screen," Patti says. "Mary is dowdy and frumpy and it really bugs her and I understand why. My mum is very glamorous - she's a really stylish lady and always has been. I'm unfortunately not! My mother doesn't like how Mary looks or how she dresses. She's very honest - she always has been, whatever I've done - and she tells it how it is. There are some bits she really finds funny, but in other scenes all she can see is the clothes and the hair. She's really pleased I've joined the show, but she would love more glamour. She sees the other actresses and they're so glamorous and then there's me! Luckily I don't mind at all. The clothes fit Mary and how she is, so it's fine. But my mother particularly doesn't like Mary's blue coat. She'll wince and say, 'Oh that blue coat, why do you have to wear that?'"

Viewers have already seen Mary's darker side - and we're not talking about her coats. After trapping nervy Norris in a remote country cottage, she's planning to cause even more trouble. She forced herself on Hayley and Roy as their wedding planner, but now she's plotting revenge when she's banned from the big day. Single girl Patti was born in Manchester, and also lived in Newcastle and Birmingham and spent a spell abroad. Luckily, she says her attitude to relationships is very different to Mary's. "I've certainly never pursued someone in the way Mary does Norris," she giggles. "I can be doggedly loyal, but not obsessed. And I certainly don't have her resilience, especially with men."

After all these years of anonymity she is flattered by the public's reaction to Mary, but not everyone is kind. "I had a day off recently and went out to this little country village," says Patti. "I went into the tea shop and there was a family at the next table. The mother said to me, 'Oh, I know you - you're on Corrie, aren't you? Tell me, are you as dull in real life as you are on television?' It really hurt. I don't think she meant it, but I just turned round and walked out. But most people are very nice. I especially get quite a few letters from teenage girls, who find Mary really funny."

Patti has also become close friends with Malcolm Hebden, who plays Norris. "He came to meet me on my first day and he was lovely," she smiles. "We're friends out of work. I've been to stay with him a few times and he's a wonderful friend." Away from the screen Patti looks much younger and prettier than Mary, but clearly shares her sense of humour. When asked which man she would like Mary to set her sights on next, she says: "Keith Duffy, playing Ciaran. Can you imagine? He's getting a bit nervous. I saw him the other day and said, 'Ooh, we've got another scene together.' 'Have we?' he says and walks the other way! I've shaken hands with him - he's very strong... !"

Armed with a new six-month contract, she is crossing her fingers that Mary could become a fixture. "I'm trying to live in the moment and not think about it, as nothing is permanent in soap, but I am really enjoying it," she smiles. Mary is settling into the Street. But moving on to the cobbles full-time would be such a big deal and so exciting for me, I daren't even dream it's a possibility."

Mary's risqué, off-the-wall remarks are turning her into one of the Street's funniest characters. Here are some of her best moments... To Norris, while snacking and working behind the counter at The Kabin: "I hope you don't mind me taking liberties with your peanut brittle balls?"

To Norris again, on his night-time attire... Mary: "What do you wear in bed Norris?" Norris (very embarrassed): "Oh, pyjamas and an eye mask. You?" Mary: "Tweed by Lentheric. And possibly a scrunchy. I tend to heat up at night, so I like as few layers as possible after lights out. I just lie there stroking my Miu-Miu until I fall asleep." Norris: "Your Miu-Miu?" Mary: "My cuddly monkey."

To Rita... Rita: "I wasn't born yesterday." Mary: "No. I can see that."

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stroking my miu-miu! haha