Elaine C Smith interview
Rab C Nesbitt star Elaine C. Smith is back in a new sitcom...
So what is Two Doors Down all about?
Two Doors Down is a classic situation comedy, with all the humour coming from these neighbours being forced to live next door to one another.
There's a peace that has to break out amongst neighbours to allow them to tolerate each other and I think Two Doors Down has hit on that brilliantly.
Describe your character, Christine.
Christine is a single parent who lives with her teenage daughter, Sophie [Sharon Rooney]. Christine's very like a man, which makes her liberating to play - she's had to be both parents to Sophie and has the freedom that males in comedy usually have - to be outrageous. She has some of the best lines I've ever had the joy to act.
Christine is a woman who really doesn't care what she looks like unless she's going to a funeral - that's like a wedding to Christine. She'd never do anything illegal but Christine knows every loophole and every benefit she's entitled to. She's not daft.
She's also the kind of neighbour you'd see in the supermarket and try to avoid.
What is her family situation like?
She's domineering towards poor Sophie. She interferes far too much in Sophie's life and still treats her like a 13-year-old so, in order to survive, Sophie has to have a secret life.
But I think if you go deep, there's a hurt in there for Christine. She's been left to raise her daughter alone so her view of men is not the best.
What are the neighbours like in Latimer Crescent?
As well as Christine and Sophie, you've got Doon and Johnny's characters, Cathy and Colin. They're upwardly mobile, she's got the fake tan, they've got the flash car in the driveway, the house, the hot tub. They're very aspirational and we all know those kind of blowhard show-offs.
Then you have Arabella and Alex as Beth and Eric Baird stuck in the middle of all this trying to keep sane.
How does she feel about her neighbours?
Oh she just loves Beth. Christine is one of those women who has no radar - she thinks she's Beth best friend. However, she hates Cathy. To Christine, Cathy represents everything she loathes in a woman - Cathy's dependent on men, she drinks too much, lets herself go, makes her emotions known. Cathy's also very bitchy so the two of them square up to each other quite a lot as they vie for Beth's attention. They both want Beth to themselves. There's great competition between them.
You're a new addition to the cast following the successful special- what was it like joining the show?
Quite scary, because you've got to come in at the same level as everyone else. That made me more nervous than anything.
Two Doors Down is a fresh voice in comedy and, whether I was in it or not, I'd watch it. It had a bit of Abigail's Party about it which I loved. My husband saw the pilot and raved about it. I said to my agent "if anything comes up for Two Doors Down, count me in" thinking it would be a bit part in one of the episodes, so when they came back with Christine I was thrilled. I had been waiting for a role like this for a very long time after Rab C Nesbitt.
Two Doors Down features three strong female leads over the age of 40 - was that important to you?
Arabella had been in The Fast Show, I'd been in Naked Video and Doon in Smack The Pony so we've all come up through similar routes through sketch shows. Invariably, if you're a woman in a sketch show, you're on your own. Our role in the past was to feed the men in our shows the best lines.
The day we all filmed a scene in a garden in Bishopbriggs stands out to me as it was the four female leads and a female crew. I thought I was in a parallel universe! Women being allowed to be funny? It was just joyous.
Any memorable moments from filming?
We started filming the funeral scene [Episode 2] and there I am sat in a veil. I'm all set to sing The Old Rugged Cross, which everyone knows is the song the drunk sings at the end of every funeral. Alex decided I should sing it in a Glasgow style, so I split the words up and sang "and exchange it some day for ra... cross". Well, we were all in hysterics.
And I have to say, as an actress, those moments of corpsing are the most joyous. It's like when you're back at school and your teacher tells you not to laugh and it makes you laugh all the more, you totally lose it. We must have shot around 12 takes of that one scene. The cameras were shaking with laughter.