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Irish actress is streets ahead 
Despite being a star of British institution Coronation Street and counting
members of the royal family among her friends, Katherine Kelly remains
fiercely proud of her Irish roots as Bruna Zanelli discovers.
Before Becky Grainger joined ITV’s iconic series Coronation Street,
Katherine Kelly was a big fan of the soap but she never thought much about
appearing on it.
“I just never thought that it would happen; it wasn’t like
‘Ooh, it would be wonderful to be in Corrie’, because I just
thought: No chance!” she says.
And working mainly in the theatre meant she had missed out on Corrie for
two years, something she maintains was a good thing: “I’d
kind of got out of the zone a bit so I wasn’t that nervous when
I first arrived there.”
Becky’s first appearance was in December 2006 and at that time her
character was not exactly loveable.
Katherine says: “She was a right old mess.
“Jobless, homeless — she was living on the street and she
had just got out of prison.
“Kelly — who works in the knicker factory — gave her
a chance but she messed that up and was dumped by Kelly and went back
to her old ways.
“Then Hayley gave her a true chance.
“Becky didn’t quite believe it until she realised Hayley and
Roy didn’t want anything from her, they just believed in her.
“She just blossomed.”
The actress is adamant that Becky is completely genuine with the Croppers.
“She would never do anything to hurt them. She’s like their
guard dog,” she says.
And Becky is now a favourite on The Street, recently seen running Roy’s
Rolls while her boss Roy Cropper is in Africa with wife Hayley and later
moving in with the café owner — something Katherine warns
will be hysterical.
She is always surprised when a member of the public approaches her.
She says: “People love Becky!
“They always say ‘she’s so funny’ or more scarily
‘she’s just like my niece’.”
Katherine admits to basing her on-screen character on five girls she knew
but refuses to divulge names.
And as for her fellow Corrie colleagues, she has nothing but praise for
them and their acting talents, claiming David Neilson, who plays Roy Cropper,
is one of the best character actors around at the minute: “He is
absolutely amazing.”
She may be Yorkshire born and bred but Katherine’s family roots
are firmly in Ireland.
She says: ‘My dad’s from Roscommon but he was born in Kerry.
“His mum is from Kerry.
“He moved over to England when he was about two.
“We’ve always gone back regularly for family holidays and
family events.”
Her father is passionately patriotic so they all have Irish passports.
She has two brothers and when it looked like they might have footballing
talent, her father insisted they would play for Ireland.
So how did he feel about her working in an English soap?
“Oh, he is so proud,” she says.
“You know, my family in Ireland love Corrie.
“When I first started in Corrie I went back to Kerry for my uncle’s
funeral and it was crazy.
“I got spotted more in Kerry than I did in Manchester.”
Katherine may be the first actor in her family but she is not the only
talent.
Typically Irish, her father plays several instruments and her mother is
a fantastic singer.
“They met through amateur operatics. It was a production of Oklahoma
in Barnsley, where I’m from.
“They used to do the working men’s clubs.
“During the day they would do their proper jobs — my dad
is a trained nurse and my mum is a secretary.
“So it’s all there in the genetics,” she says proudly.
As a child, Katherine appeared in an amateur production of Annie.
“It was always musicals — there was no drama teacher at my
school.
“I can sing OK but I am more comfortable with drama,” she
admits reluctantly.
By the time she was 18, Katherine knew what she wanted to do.
So instead of going to university, she auditioned for RADA (The Royal
Academy for Dramatic Art) where one of her fellow classmates was Laurence
Fox, son of actor James Fox.
Laurence is now co-starring with Kevin Wheatley in the Lewis series.
Before taking on The Street, the Irish actress also appeared in New Street
Law and the second series of the smash hit Life On Mars, as well Silent
Witness and The Royal, so she is not exactly a newcomer to the business.
Recently Katherine took part in the ITV2 programme Ghosthunting With...
together with four of her Coronation Street co-stars.
Under the guidance of TV ghosthunter Yvette Fielding the group spent a
weekend on the Isle of Man seeking out lost souls.
Katherine pulls a face.
‘Well, it didn’t happen for me,” she says.
“I didn’t see anything, I didn’t hear anything but I
had a great time.
“It was such a laugh.
“It did happen for Kym (Ryder), who plays Michelle.
“She regularly has a lot of things happen to her and poor Wendi
(Peters) got a slap on the head from something. Very weird.”
Rather surprisingly, the Irish girl from Bradford also has royal connections.
“No”, she laughs, “I don’t have any blue blood
but I’m friends with Mike Tindall, who plays rugby for England and
who happens to be Zara Phillips’ partner.
“Mike and I went to school together.”
Katherine has met Zara — who is the daughter of Princess Anne —
on several occasions.
She says: “We’ve been out to dinner a few times too.
“I often go to watch Mike play and one time Zara and I were stood
having a cup of tea when Mike’s mum suddenly said ‘It’s
so weird watching Becky talk to the Queen’s granddaughter!’”
Now she is a regular on the cobbles of Weatherfield, Katherine has no
desire to leave.
She loves working on The Street.
‘I have such good story lines coming up — I can’t say
much but I promise they are great so I don’t want to think about
leaving,” she says.
“I hope they keep me here forever.”
And why not?
With the sadly missed Vera Duckworth gone to a Rover’s Return in
the sky, who else could fill the gap left by that formidable lady?
Another loud-mouthed but endearing character, perhaps?
Stand up Becky Grainger!
But one thing is for sure, throughout her life Katherine has remained
true to her Irish roots.
And so she especially asked if she could send a message to all her Irish
fans.
She said: “I’m so pleased that my fellow Irish love Coronation
Street.
“It is so popular in Ireland.
“I am hoping I will be able to come over for the awards in Dublin.
“That would be really great and I want to thank-you all for your
lovely letters.
“Oh, and Becky sends her love!’
Coronation Street is aired on ITV1 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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