Michelle Collins joins Corrie

[faceless]

EastEnders icon Michelle Collins joins Coronation Street
Paul Byrne,
Daily Mirror,
16th April 2011

EX-Eastenders star Michelle Collins has landed the role of Rovers Return landlady in rival soap Coronation Street. Michelle, who was Albert Square bitch Cindy Beale, begins filming on Corrie next month and will be on screen from June. She is playing feisty Stella who will ruffle feathers along with husband Karl, portrayed by Taggart star John Michie, 54.

Michelle, 49, said yesterday: “I am honoured to be joining Coronation Street. The show has been part of my life since I was a child so to become a part of it is extremely exciting.” A Corrie source said: “Michelle has an incredible screen presence and sparks will be flying in the Rovers.”

Her character is being brought in to run the pub in place of Liz McDonald, played by Bev Callard, who is leaving the ITV soap. Michelle was in EastEnders for 10 years in the 80s and 90s and Cindy’s evil deeds included hiring a hitman who tried but failed to kill Ian Beale.

-----------------------

gah... I've never liked her in anything I've seen her in and now she's taking over the Rovers?

[eefanincan]

"Michelle has an incredible screen presence"......

I think that's taking it a bit too far!

[SpursFan1902]

This should be interesting...I missed her EE days, but from the clips I have seen, I hope that she does a better job on Corrie..

[pirtybirdy]

I'm wondering if she is gonna put on a Northern/Manchester accent for this role, or if they will say she's from London or something. She played a good bitch on EE, I'll give her a chance and see what she does here. lol It'll definitely be weird though.

[Twirley]

This news perturbs me! I can't quite see her as landlady of the Rovers. And OMG, I didn't realise she was 49. Somehow I always thought she was about my age, not older!! Let's see how this plays out. :-/

[faceless]

Coronation Street move will help Michelle Collins bury the EastEnders ghost of Cindy Beale
Dianne Bourne
June 07, 2011
Manchester Evening News

Actress Michelle Collins is hoping to lay the ghost of Cindy Beale to rest after taking up the role of Weatherfield’s new landlady – Stella Price. The star played conniving Cindy Beale in Coronation Street’s arch rival EastEnders for a decade, but although she has never been off stage or screen since she left Albert Square she is still best known as Cindy – the tart with no heart.

But now as she prepares for viewers to see her dramatic entrance on to the cobbles next week, Michelle hopes that playing a leading role in the nation’s best-loved soap will draw a line under constant associations with a part she left behind 15 years ago. The new family that Michelle heads arrived on the street yesterday with a champagne reception. And speaking in the Rovers where she will soon be pulling pints, Michelle said: "Hats off to EastEnders, it was great for me and a lot of actors do really well after it. But I hope I can finally lay Cindy to rest. It was a long time ago. I’m 49 now and I’m lucky I’ve been working pretty solidly since I was 19.

"Stella is a really strong character – she would win a fight against Cindy hands down. But she isn’t as hard nosed or conniving as Cindy." Stella, who'll arrive hiding a big secret, isn’t a southerner either and viewers are eagerly anticipating how Michelle will sound as a Manc landlady. Michelle laughed: "I’ve had to get to grips with northern sayings like ‘mithering’ and I have a dialect coach. My character has a Mancunian accent but it’s not like Betty’s. I’ve played northern roles before so it’s not new to me. There are going to be people who say ‘she doesn’t sound like a northerner’ but that’s life." She insists she won't be following the flamboyant style of previous landladies like Bet Gilroy and Liz McDonald. She laughed: "You'll never see leopard print on me."

Hunky former Taggart star John Michie plays Stella’s other half Karl Munro, a flawed former footballer who tried out for Man City and had two seasons with Oldham Athletic. In real life he and Michelle met in Manchester 25 years ago on the set of a different soap - when they starred in Albion Market. The Edinburgh actor has also enlisted the services of a dialect coach – although his mum comes from Rochdale. "My mum left as a nurse to go to India where she met my dad who was in Scottish banking. We moved to Scotland when I was 12 or 13." John describes his character is an irrepressible flirt who has met his match in Stella – a woman he really loves – but he still has an eye for the ladies. "He’s trying to be a good guy but he is a lads’ lad and there is a selfishness and suppressed aggression in his character."

Interesting… and former Emmerdale and Lilies star, Catherine Tyldesley, is equally interesting. She plays Eva, Stella’s diva daughter, a stroppy little madam who is far too clever for her own good and would much prefer her mum to be running a trendy bar like Panacea than a back street pub. But the one thing 27-year-old Catherine hasn’t had to get to grips with is an accent, as she hails from Walkden. "It’s great, I live just down the road. It’s an absolute dream to be in Corrie. My parents are so excited about it."

[Kezza]

Hmmm interesting -- not sure if I'll be able to watch without thinking it's "Cindy Beale" behind the bar, but I'll give it a go.

Thanks for the post!

[Twirley]

Yeah - this will be interesting. It's going to take a fair bit for her to not have us think of Cindy Beale. It wasn't too bad when she was in other dramas, but because it's Corrie (another soap) I think people will think of Cindy. I wish her well though. And it will be nice to see some new characters on the cobbles...it's been a while!

[pirtybirdy]

I can't wait to hear her Manchester accent. She has said in interviews that she has been having a bit of trouble trying to do the accent. I will try my best to wipe Cindy Beale from my mind. It'll be tough though. lol

[faceless]

I like how they've made her accent pretty subtle, though definitely still with a northern twang. It works quite well

[pirtybirdy]

Yeah, so far so good, but it's early days. LOL

[SpursFan1902]

I am withholding judgment for a while....I haven't really decided yet.

[faceless]

[mamasue]

I'm really not liking her on Corrie...
She's nowhere near as iconic as other Rovers landladies have been in the past..
The family they've given her are just bland.... dopey boyfriend and chavvy daughter.
it's not working for me at all!!

[faceless]

'I act each scene as if it's my last... you might die in the next one'
Colin Robertson
26th February 2012
The Sun

SHE has had star roles in the nation's two biggest soaps but Michelle Collins still fears she'll get the CHOP. The actress, formerly Cindy Beale in EastEnders, confessed in a frank interview with The Sun that her stint on Coronation Street has been far from plain sailing.

Michelle, now playing northerner Stella Price, revealed: "I thought I could just come in through the back door. But, as landlady of the Rovers, you just can't do that! I am having a great time working on Corrie but it's also really tough and I don't think you can ever feel settled in a job. I act each scene as if it's going to be my last. You never know if you are going to get a scene where you die!"

Not that Street bosses have any plans to kill Stella off — far from it. They've packed her diary with storylines. Over the next few weeks, an unsuspecting Stella discovers Karl has been gambling away the couple's savings, running up tens of thousands of pounds' worth of debt too — and when the pub boss finds out, she sends him packing.

But Karl has also been growing close to her best friend Sunita who, feeling unloved at home, is happy to be his shoulder to cry on. Michelle is looking forward to the gritty plot which will leave viewers wondering whether Karl does the dirty on her or not.

"I don't want to work on a soap where you are just pouring tea," says Michelle. For me, it would be soul-destroying and now people have had a chance to get to know Stella, it's great to be given some big storylines. She is a strong, feisty woman who is very much the breadwinner. But the question is: Can a strong woman have it all? Yes, she has got a pub she always dreamed of owning and a daughter she has found but all this has meant she has taken her eye off the ball when it comes to her own marriage."

Michelle thinks the storyline will strike a chord with many women who constantly wonder if they have "got it all". Ask this very question to Michelle and she thinks not. The actress, who has a 15-year-old daughter, Maia, from a previous relationship with Fabrizio Tassalini, confesses: "No, I don't think I have ever had it all. When I think about the good jobs and great relationships I have had in the past, I think they have come at different times. I really do think that whilst men may initially be happy you are a strong woman, they don't like it after a while."

Michelle has enjoyed several long romances and been engaged but she has never married. Now single and happy to be so, she goes on to reveal that she finds it hard to meet potential boyfriends who are happy to let her take all the limelight — given she is a TV star.

She says: "I need to find a man who is quite happy with that. But would I date another actor? No. Two actors for me don't really go. It is not a marriage or relationship made in heaven. There is too much insecurity if one is out of work and it can become very competitive if one is more successful than the other. For me, I don't think it would be a good idea to date an actor. This storyline with Stella is good and I think it does strike a chord with people. It makes you wonder if you can have a career and keep a man happy at the same time. I am sure it works for some people."

Michelle also admits she has found it hard commuting from her London home, where her daughter lives, to Manchester every week — but moaning about it is definitely not her style. She says: "Playing Stella is a great role and I feel lucky to have been given the chance when there are so many actresses who aren't working very much."

"It's tough, though, because Corrie is not based in my home town. I wouldn't moan because a lot of people in Manchester could turn around and say, 'Well, I can do that job' and I feel grateful to be playing Stella. But being a single parent is difficult. It constantly means I am juggling and, yes, I have a good team around me as my family help out and I have someone who lives in but I want to be there for my daughter too. It's why I am happy being on my own right now. I can't come back home and then go out at weekends, going on a date."

While the rest of the cast have made Michelle feel at home on set, she confesses there was a difficult time after critics questioned her northern accent. "That was horrible," reveals Michelle. "It did make me go home and think, 'I want to leave.' But then I realised I needed to put everything into perspective. I was like, 'No, I have been an actress for a long time. I can't be that c**p or I wouldn't be here today.'

"I had to keep my head held high. I couldn't walk out." Now seven months on, Michelle is chuffed to bits that viewers have taken her character to their hearts. She adds: "People are now really positive about Stella. I have received some lovely letters with people saying such nice things."

But does Michelle see herself staying in the soap for a long time? The down-to-earth actress says she would not be so arrogant as to think she has a right to be in such a top-rated soap for ever. "It's very easy to get lazy but I would never do that," she says. "I love Coronation Street but I really could not say if I will be here in ten years. "My family and friends are down in London and I am leading a nomadic life at the moment. I don't know how long I will be able to keep it up for but I am enjoying myself a lot."

And when she isn't busy working or spending time with her daughter, she is happy to champion Barnardo's Child In Crisis Appeal. She says: "I've seen first-hand the families that Barnardo's work with and it is clear to me that many of them really are at crisis point. Barnardo's services help the poorest families, many who are being priced out of a decent living." With that parting shot, Michelle has to dash off to learn lines for her next scene.

As she leaves, you wonder if she will ever find love again and be able to boast that she is, indeed, a woman who has it all. She declares: "I've met a lot of frogs and maybe a prince will come along but right now I really don't need a man I am not just saying that. My priority is my daughter. She will always come first."