Former EastEnders star Jo Joyner chats country life and dancing in her wellies – and reveals her acting inspiration
When she was asked to star in BBC1’s new daytime drama Shakespeare & Hathaway – Private Investigators, actress Jo Joyner found it an offer she just couldn’t refuse.
For starters, her character – former hairdresser Luella Shakespeare – was a breath of fresh air.
‘Lu, being bright and bubbly and happy and positive, is what really drew me to her,’ grins Jo, ‘because I can play some quite miserable, fierce people.’
The scripts were fabulously funny, with intriguing mysteries and an added layer of references to the Bard. Her co-star, as gone-to-seed private eye Frank Hathaway, was Mark Benton of Waterloo Road, Northern Lights and Strictly fame.
But the icing on the cake? As Jo, 40, tells Woman’s Weekly, it was filmed on her doorstep, so she could still spend time with husband Neil Madden and their twins Fred and Edie, eight.
Shakespeare & Hathaway was filmed in Stratford-uponAvon, William Shakespeare’s birthplace, just down the road from your home…
I live in a village equidistant from Stratford, Leamington and Warwick, so it was a 20-minute commute. I hadn’t planned to be working as I’d been away so long filming the Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge. I was going to be at home being a mum. But when they said, ‘It’s Mark and it’s in Stratford,’ it was all a bit too brilliant to say no. I could have friends meet me for lunch, and my kids met me after school for dinner.
Stratford’s quite touristy. Did you film on the streets with an audience?
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Patchwork PROJECTS
Easy ideas to show off English paper-piecing techniques
Night train to BERLIN
Germany's exciting and varied capital is now reachable by train from the UK
French FANCY
Raymond Blanc's right-hand man, Benoit Blin's favourite bakes
Are you missing out on BENEFITS?
Here's how to find out what you are eligible for
TRAY bien
All-in-one tray bakes, packed with flavour
We took a grown-up GAP YEAR!
Who says taking time out is just for students?
'I'm obsessed with reality TV!'
THIS WEEK'S COLUMNIST Author and presenter Louise Minchin
What to eat and do for A HEALTHIER GUT
Fix those problems and boost your wellbeing
Picture palaces
In an age of cinema complexes, we celebrate five historic and beautiful picture houses that have stood the test of time
'My diet during Bake Off is cake and alcohol!'
Dame Prue Leith on the popular baking contest