Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire says her role in the show 'was a leap of faith'
Sarah Lancashire has spoken out about her starring role in the hit drama Happy Valley as she was honoured at Windsor Castle yesterday. The actress, 60, was awarded two leading actress Baftas for playing no-nonsense Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the popular BBC show.
Before Sarah played the police officer, she had the role of barmaid Raquel Watts in Coronation Street, which she played for five years until 1996, appearing in more than 260 episodes, writes The Manchester Evening News.
Happy Valley was on screens from 2014 to 2023, and the star opened up about her iconic role in it at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, after being formally made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by King Charles.
Sarah said: "That was just born out of fear, abject fear, of feeling quite off-piste. Literally it was a leap of faith, jumping off the cliff at midnight in the dark.
"But knowing that somebody has the confidence in you and the belief in you – she (Wainwright) is deeply persuasive as an individual, which I absolutely, really admire, I'm very grateful, always."
Sally Wainwright wrote the story and the pair later collaborated on the Last Tango in Halifax. For her performance, Sarah won her first Bafta in 2014 for her supporting role.
Asked what the biggest challenge was about playing Sergeant Cawood, Sarah replied: "The setting of it, being asked to play something which I had no knowledge of at all – absolutely no knowledge.
"And knowing that the level of research that was available to me was going to be quite limited in the time available.
"But in actual fact – as she (Wainwright) always said – it wasn't a procedural drama, it was not a police drama, it… was a family."
Just in the last few weeks, Sarah was spotted in a rare public appearance as she attended Wimbledon with her husband, Peter Salmon. She first met the TV executive while working on Coronation Street, and the couple tied the knot in 2001.
In 2003 Sarah and Peter welcomed their son Joseph. Sarah has two children from a previous marriage, and Peter has three.
Sarah has previously shared: "We are not a public couple and we don't make our careers out of being a public couple. I know that people are interested but I don't even like talking about my relationship with Peter.
"And I guard it because it is very precious. It is not a piece of drama, it is real life. My normal life. And I value my normality".
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