Style meets Sue Devaney

Talented Rochdale actress, Sue Devaney, returned to Coronation Street in 2019, as Kevin Webster's sister, Debbie, after a 34 year absence. The popular actress has since made her comeback permanent and is set to remain on the cobbles until at least April 2022.

Sue is well known for her numerous television and theatre roles including Rita Briggs in the 1980s children's TV drama Jonny Briggs, paramedic Liz Harker in Casualty, Jane in the Victoria Wood comedy, Dinnerladies and more recently a nationwide tour of Calendar Girls and worldwide tour of Mamma Mia.

Style caught up with with Sue to discuss life back on the cobbles, her glam businesswoman alterego and why she's passionate about raising awareness of mental health and homelessness issues...

How would you describe Debbie?

Sassy... a northern version of Joan Collins! Debbie loves herself; she thinks she’s great. It’s quite empowering to play someone like that. I’ve based Debbie Webster’s fashion on a friend of mine, Maureen Astley (pictured below). I’ve known Maureen ever since she taught me tap dancing when I was seven, at Syke Junior Theatre Club. I aspire to be like her because she’s always positive, very glamorous, with her matching bags and scarves and false eyelashes. Once this current lockdown is over, Maureen’s said I can go over and raid her wardrobe so I can’t wait for that!

Earlier this year it was revealed that Debbie had been scheming with Ray Crosby to have Coronation Street bulldozed. She seems to have seen the error of her ways since then, but does Debbie still have a dark side?

Well, there’s good and bad in everybody isn’t there. I think she’s had quite a few bad experiences in relationships and has had to harden over the years, like I suppose we all do at times. All she’s known is how to make money. But I think when she came home and saw her brother she thought, these are my kind of people. And you know, she’s a woman of a certain age, she’s questioning life, wondering where she’ll be happy and realising she wants to be around her family. And also - was she being bad? Because I think what Debbie does is chuck her money at everything. She’s a fixer - she thought, let’s knock down Coronation Street, build beautiful luxury apartments and I’ll put my brother [Kevin Webster: Mike Le Vell] in one of them and he’ll live happily ever after. And it’s not until he says, “no I love this life, with my bacon butties, my garage and my mates” that she realises she's wrong.

You talk about Debbie as though she’s your best friend - is that how it feels?

I played her when I was 16 so I know her journey. She’s come from nowt as a child to being a successful middle aged high flying woman. I think I talk about her so enthusiastically because I love the fact that she’s a lot of things I’m not – she’s a businesswoman, she’s full of confidence. And probably, people look at me and think “Wow… Sue’s really confident!” but I’m not. Debbie thinks differently; she doesn’t think like me. She thinks in business, facts and money and not feelings. It’s wonderful to play her. She’s funny, witty, clever; I just love dressing up in those high heels. I feel like I’m going into work to dress up. I send a picture of me as Debbie to my partner, Jim, so he knows I can scrub up quite well when I’ve been in my onesie all week!

Any spoilers as to what’s coming up for Debbie? Is love on the horizon?

I hope there is but she’s got very high standards. She’s been hurt a lot in the past so it’d have to be a pretty special guy. You never really know what’s coming up. You get the scripts a couple of weeks before and that’s when you know what’s happening storyline wise. And the scripts come fast and furious. If you’re in a block you could get up to 20 scripts so it’s busy. It’s nice to have weekends off though, which is a first for me. I haven’t had weekends off for a long, long time. Oh and it’s quite nice to come home, do my washing and peg out!

Back in February, Debbie and Kevin were trapped in the Bistro fridge by Ray – what were those scenes like to film and how long did they take?

Three days! They built a set especially for it. Mike does the best cold acting ever; his lip quivers and everything. Whereas I was having hot sweats with all the layers…. and the menopause of course! We had a covid test so that we could get close during the fridge scenes. Mike and I had worked together for months but couldn’t go anywhere near each other; so as soon as we had the test… we were like… “Come here! Let’s have a big old hug!” It’s been absolutely brilliant to work with Mike again because we’ve got a history. When we first started working together he was 18 and I was 16! Who’d have thought all those years ago that we’d be stuck in a fridge together in our fifties!

What has it been like on set with Covid restrictions?

It's a very tight ship at the minute. You do your lateral flow tests, wear your mask right up until you do your take in the scene and all the crew are wearing masks all day. They do an amazing job. We have to do all our own make up and hair ourselves, supervised by our wonderful makeup department. The first day when I got there I thought “Oh my gosh, I’ve made it! I’ve got my own makeup brushes with my name on!” Then I realised they put your name on them because they have to clean them due to Covid! Everything is stripped back on set. We’re acting two metres away from each other, so it’s tricky in that sense.

I count my blessings every day though. So many of my mates are struggling financially; freelancers not knowing where their next pay cheque will come from. I feel for our industry and our local theatres, like The Oldham Coliseum and Bolton Octagon. Samuel West was chatting on the radio the other day. He had this brilliant idea to save the repertory theatres - employ well known established actors. Maxine Peake for example, I think she’s from Bolton. try and entice them to work back home. Ask them what play they’d like to do at their local theatre. They would be on a repertory wage, same as all the other actors but it would encourage audiences to come back and watch live theatre.

You’ve signed a new contract until April 2022 – have you settled into life as a Coronation Street regular now?

I’m still finding my feet but I absolutely love it. I love working somewhere where you see the same people everyday – security, wardrobe, make up, crew. I’ve been nipping in and out of tv roles for a while, an episode here and there, and I was always terribly nervous because I didn’t have time to relax. But a soap is a whole new way of working and I’m loving having the time to improve.

We loved your recent appearance on ITV's Lorraine, especially when you sang Dancing Queen in Korean!

Oh you have it to do don’t you!! That was hysterical because I’m not very technical and the interview was on Zoom - when Lorraine was speaking everything was frozen so the whole time all I could see was Andi Peters on a boat somewhere. Then the window cleaner knocks on the window “you owe me a fiver!”, Alexa’s coming on and off, my neighbour’s dogs started howling! It was like a sitcom.

You've used your profile to speak out about lots of important issues; one of the main ones being homelessness...

I'm passionate about helping homeless people because I know what it's like to have no money or no job. I've experienced mental health issues, low self esteem, addiction. People judge homeless folk but they don’t know their story. I’ve interviewed so many homeless people and it’s only then that you realise that any of us could end up in the same situation. There but for the grace of God. This country now has a massive issue and Manchester is one of the worst hit areas. I find it heartbreaking that, in this day and age, we can have thousands of people living on our streets. Everyone deserves help, food and warmth.

You’ve always talked openly about your struggles with anxiety and addiction...

Well, I have an addictive nature and I struggled for many years with food. I don’t eat sugar or gluten now and I haven’t had any alcohol since 2009. I talk about it because there was a time I used to make it a monster and I thought I was alone with it but actually when you say it out loud, it loses its power. And if I can help anybody who is struggling with the same problems I have had then I will share my journey openly. I remember doing a job at Oldham Coliseum and there were four of us sharing a dressing room. It was the opening night and I said “I just need to do my deep breathing because I can feel my anxiety rising”. The lady next to me said “I’ve got that” and it turned out all four of us in that dressing room struggled with anxiety.

When you start talking about it you realise it’s very common and it makes us human. Scratch the surface of everyone’s life and there’s a lot more going on. We need to be kind to each other. Ask the people around you, “how are you... in yourself?” - that’s a very northern expression!

What advice would you give to anyone struggling with their mental health?

It’s ok to not be ok. Ask for help. You are not alone. Covid has allowed us to open up more about mental health as so many people have struggled throughout these lockdowns. I have friends who are really successful actors who struggle with their mental health. My anxiety went through the roof with my menopause and I found myself unable to work for a while. Now I am learning not to be so hard on myself. I’m a work in progress.

Have you always lived around Rochdale?

No, I left home at 17 and moved to London. My sister was already down there and we lived with a wonderful actress called Patricia Hayes. I lived in Bristol for a while too and then moved back home when I was 30. I love working away and experiencing different countries and cultures but it’s always nice to come back home. My family are in Rochdale now, although my niece, Grace, is a makeup artist and is currently filming in Bristol. I'm very proud of her. I remember getting Corrie the first time around when I was 16. I walked out of the audition, got the train and the bus back to Syke; by the time I’d got home, my mum was on the doorstep... “You’ve had a phone call, you’ve got it!” Oh the heady days of landlines!

What’s the best thing about the town?

There’s some beautiful, stunning places in Rochdale. I love the old buildings. The Town Hall is spectacular! And it’s something about the people I think - I love the way we look after one another and we don’t like to see anybody struggle. And northerners can laugh at themselves. I’ve been all around the world and I still talk like this! Whereas Debbie has the phone voice – the Hyacinth Bucket voice. But then of course, if she’s angry she’ll go really northern and say “oh blummin ‘eck!”.

Do you have to stick to the Corrie scripts word for word or can you add your own sayings? You should definitely use ‘cruckle’!

We mostly stick to the script but sometimes I’ll say “how about adding this?”. Cruckle!! Oh yes, I’m going to have to find a way to say that “oh I’ve cruckled on’t cobbles in mi big heels!”.

You seem really happy to be back on the cobbles?

Oh I’m so happy. It’s great to be back on Coronation Street. It’s like I’ve come full circle. I drive to work and back everyday with a big smile on my face. I wish my Mum and Dad could see me now…. with my name on my makeup brushes!

Ruth Parkinson

Photos: Jackie Meredith(all taken in Rochdale Town Centre)