(Music plays in background)    00:00:00

Neil Hancock:    00:00:11
Hello, everyone.  I’m Neil on Wheels, and this is my new podcast.  I can’t walk the walk, but I can talk the talk.  I’m a wheelchair actor who wasn’t able to work during the pandemic.  But rather than sitting around during nothing, I thought I’d sit around doing something. In these series, I’ll be chatting to people in the theatre, TV and film industry about the challenges they’ve overcome in order to achieve great things in life.  My guest for this episode is well-known to all fans of Coronation Street.  The character this actor plays is married to David Platt and has had her fair share of storylines since arrival on the cobbles of Weatherfield, include in the reveal that she was the mother of Clayton who killed David’s ex-wife, Kylie, and most recently has suffered a brain injury as a result of being shot.  This actor has also done numerous productions on-stage such as As You Like It at the Creation Theatre, and The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith at The Jermyn Street Theatre.  You know her as Shona Platt from Corrie, but I know her as Julia Goulding.  Hello, Julia.

Julia Goulding:     00:01:17
Hi.

Neil Hancock:    00:01:18
How are you today?  Are you all right?

Julia Goulding:    00:01:20
Yeah, really well, thank you.  It’s a rainy day here in Manchester, but I’m feeling surprisingly sunny.

 Neil Hancock:    00:01:26
(Chuckles)
Now, people know you as Shona from Coronation Street.  You’ve been in the role now for nearly five years, I believe.  How did you get the part of Shona?

Julia Goulding:    00:01:38
Well, my agent rang one day because I’ve been a lifelong fan of Corrie and I was always bugging him to put me up for, you know, anything, even like to play a nurse or a sonographer or something like that.  But he held off and waited for a regular part to come up, and, yeah, he rang me and he said that there’s a new part coming up to play David Platt’s new love interest, and yeah, I went for the audition.  And I got a recall, which I was just absolutely over the moon with.  I went in for a screen test and then, yeah, got offered the part.  It was just best day of my life (chuckles).

 Neil Hancock:    00:02:25
And on your first day of filming, was it surreal being in the company of actors who you’d – growing up, you’d seen them on screen?

Julia Goulding:    00:02:33
Yes, it was.  It was incredible.  I went in for an induction day to find out where my dressing room was and, you know, where makeup was and all that kind of thing, and I was just being shown the green room and just as we went in for me to see the green room, it was a break from a rovers scene, and there must have been about 10 to 15 cast walking to the green room all in costume, so they all looked like the characters.  There was Roy, there was Steve McDonald, Liz McDonald, all these legends, and I just didn’t know what to do (chuckles).  I was absolutely stunned.  I just stood there like a rabbit in the headlights.  And everyone welcomed me and congratulated me on getting the part and stuff.  And, yes, I think I was completely dumbfounded.

 Neil Hancock:    00:03:20
Now, because soaps are on five days a week, what demands are placed on you as an actor and how do they differ from other acting jobs?

Julia Goulding:    00:03:29
Well, because everything is so quick, which especially on a soap, it is, I think just being prepared is just so important.  I mean, it is, in any acting job really, you know, but obviously you don’t have really the chance to read your scripts more than once, and because, you know, there’s so many changes that happen especially at the moment with the pandemic going on, so yeah, you’re just going to be on your toes and get a lot of sleep (chuckles) when you’re not on set, because it’s 12-hour days a lot of the time.

Neil Hancock:    00:04:05
And you’re working that full 12 hours or are there any breaks in between or anything like that?

Julia Goulding:    00:04:10
Oh yeah, we get tea breaks (chuckles).  And also, before the pandemic – obviously at the moment it’s a little bit different with the art department being able to give us sort of edible props, but before that, we always had a cup of tea on set.  You know, we just shoe horn it into a scene that, oh, I definitely think David and Shona would be having this conversation over a cup of tea (chuckles).  So yeah, we get tea breaks and we get our lunch break and stuff.  But, yeah, it’s full on heavy going, but also, it’s the most fun in the world so it doesn’t really feel like work.

Neil Hancock:    00:04:47  
And you mentioned the pandemic, what’s it been like filming Corrie in the pandemic?

Julia Goulding:    00:04:54 
Incredibly different.  And it’s quite difficult really because, you know, we’re limited to the amount of actors we can have on each set, we have to be 2m apart from everybody at all times.  We rehearse up until we do a take, we’ve got our masks on.  So yeah, it’s…  But we’re sort of getting used to it now.  As I said earlier, it’s hard now with props because… like we use our own mobile phones on set so there’s no cross-contamination with having to get your character phone from somebody from design.  So yeah, everybody, we’re all… a much more self-contained, you know, you have to sort of look after your own stuff so you got to be really sharp and really on it because if you forget an item of clothing like a handbag or something like that that you need for a scene, you are the only person that can go up to your dressing room and get that.  So yeah, you’ve just got to be really on it.  But we are getting used to it and it’s running really smoothly to say that there’s been so much change.

Neil Hancock:    00:05:58
And after a hard day’s filming, how do you chill out?  What do you do to relax?

Julia Goulding:    00:06:05
Well, we used to go to the pub near work (chuckles), and that was before I had a baby as well.  But now, I come home and my lovely husband Ben usually makes my tea, and obviously, a glass of red wine for sure.

Neil Hancock:    00:06:20
Oh, fantastic.  I love a glass of red wine too, Julia, so I can relate to that.  Now recently you had a storyline where you were shot and as a result, suffered a brain injury.  What research did you have to do to prepare for that storyline?

Julia Goulding:    00:06:38
I worked with some doctors from the Christchurch Trust who specialise in the type of brain injury Shona had, which was a hypoxic brain injury.  So she—basically she was shot in the stomach on Christmas Day and as a result of that, she ended up having a brain aneurysm, which caused the brain damage that she suffered.  The thing about hypoxic brain injury is it’s… no one is the same.  So, you know, it can vary, the amount of damage, and the result of the damage as well.  So in Shona’s situation, she lost about four years of her recent memory.  So she can still remember everything up until about 2016, which funnily enough is when she came onto Coronation Street.  So she doesn’t remember her husband, she doesn’t remember any of her friends or anything that’s happened within that time.  She won’t get those memories back, but what we’re working on at the moment is obviously her making new memories, and also the fact that the essence of who she is, is still there, so we will start to see more of the Shona that we used to know before the injury coming through again.  So she will make a full recovery but she won’t ever have the memories back that she lost over those four years.

 Neil Hancock:   00:08:03
And going back to the start, before Corrie.  Now, I know you're from RADA which we’ll talk about it in a bit, but what made you want to be an actor?

Julia Goulding:    00:08:13
I think it probably was being ti—from being tiny, you know, I always wanted to do it, I loved going to the theatre.  My mum used to take me to the pantomime every Christmas at Middleton Civic Hall, and I just, I loved the magic of it.  And also, I love history.  And I think sort of my interest in history really spurred on wanting to sort of relive things, like I love doing classical theatre, I love doing classical work, but then also, my mum was a Coronation Street fan and I had my 5th birthday party on the Coronation Street studio tour because of watching it, and I used to say to my mum I wanted to be an actor on Coronation Street.  So you can imagine (chuckles) how wonderful it was when that dream came true.

Neil Hancock:    00:09:06
So, you had your 5th birthday party on the Coronation Street set did you say?

Julia Goulding:    00:09:11
Yeah, I did, yeah. 

Neil Hancock:    00:09:12
Oh.

Julia Goulding:    00:09:12
Me and my cousin, Beanie.  Yeah, it was great.  Because they used to do… well, they still do tours now, but when the set was at Granada, they used to do studio tours.  So, my mum took me along to see all behind the scenes and the magic of how it all happens, and, yeah, I knew then that I wanted to be an actor.

Neil Hancock:    00:09:32
So, Corrie has played a significant part in your life, it’s sort of made you want to be an actor and now you’re an actor, being on Coronation Street.

Julia Goulding:    00:09:42
I know.  I know!  It’s wonderful.  Honestly, it means the world, it really does.

Neil Hancock:    00:09:47
Now, were there any other things that you excelled at when you were younger?  And if so, what were they?

Julia Goulding:    00:09:54
I was really, really into sports.  So, I played football and netball for Rochdale.  I was a trampolina for Rochdale, I was on the trampolining team.  And I loved cross country running and swimming, although I was never very strong at swimming.  But I gave it my best shot, you know (chuckles).  So yeah, if I wasn’t sort of, you know, up in the room play make believe, I was out sort of doing some sort of sport.

Neil Hancock:    00:10:26 
And what made you finally decide to leave sport behind and do acting as a professional career?

Julia Goulding:    00:10:34
I don’t know really.  I think just as I got older…  And I think if you want to be a sports person, you have to have that drive, and, you know, that real want to do it and the strength and, you know, keep it up in that way, and I think acting just won.  You know, that’s where my interest truly lay.  So, yeah, I sort of left sport behind and focused on…  Because I knew how hard a career it would be, mainly because most people, you know, (chuckles) encourage you to do anything but.  But luckily for me, my parents were both really supportive of my wants to be an actor, so, yeah, I just put everything I had into it.

Neil Hancock:    00:11:21
And as I’ve said earlier, we know each other from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, what was your time at RADA like?

Julia Goulding:    00:11:29
It was wonderful.  I think, for me, obviously the training is exceptional, but also, it’s the people that you’re training with.  I had the most wonderful year of people around me, and in the school as well.  And I remember on my third audition round, we did our dualogue together, do you remember that?

Neil Hancock:    00:11:50
I do.  I do.  I remember it very much so.

Julia Goulding:    00:11:53
Yeah, yeah.  So yeah, it was just wonderful, you know, the whole place is made by the people.  And I’ve got some of my best friends I’ve ever made in my life from RADA.

Neil Hancock:    00:12:06
What do you think you learned as an actor whilst you were there that improved you from the actor you were before to the actor you are now?

Julia Goulding:    00:12:15
I’d say mainly confidence, and that’s because we were just constantly performing, you know, like in your dramaturgy lessons, you're movement classes, you’re constantly being looked at, and I used to get really embarrassed and I’d get a big red rash, you know, because I didn’t feel like I was prepared enough maybe, I don’t know.  But because we were just constantly, constantly performing…  I remember seeing the first set of third year shows when I was in first year, and just watching them and just thinking I just wished I have that confidence, you know, and… because with that, I think your true ability really shines through, because you’re relaxed and therefore able to do your job better.  And yeah, by third year, I really felt that, and I think that’s what…  You know, because it was a safe place to get things wrong or, you know, experiment at something new that you might feel you’ve never done before, so yeah, I felt really ready for the industry once I’ve completed the training.

Neil Hancock:    00:13:20 |
And you’ve also done a lot of work on-stage prior to Corrie.  You played Celia in As You Like It at The Creation Theatre, and you’ve also played Jessica in the Merchant of Venice, and being involved in production like the Canterbury Tales on Cunard – are those the Cunard cruises, I’m assuming?

Julia Goulding:    00:13:41
Yeah, yeah, they are, they are.  So, RADA have a connection with Cunard, and what it was, was it’s a transatlantic crossing to New York, and it was seven weeks I think we were on the ship.  And it was a company of six actors, all from RADA, you know, various ages and stuff, and we did the Merchant of Venice and we did the Canterbury Tales.  And we just do one show of each a week, because obviously it was the same passengers on the ship for a transatlantic crossing which took six days.  And we got to go to New York, and, yeah, it was so much fun.  I mean, and again, you know, the six of us, we all got on so well.  And besides which, one of them was Laura Morgan, one of my best friends from my year, so yeah, it was wicked, it was so much fun.  And then, yeah, the As You Like It was just wonderful, it was one of the best summers I’ve ever had, because it was in Oxford and I’ve never really spent any time in Oxford, and it’s such a beautiful city.  And it was a gorgeous summer, gorgeous, gorgeous summer.  And we did an outdoor production in promenade of As You Like It through the Forest of Arden and, it was just great, it was brilliant, I really enjoyed playing that part.

Neil Hancock:    00:15:00
Well, I know promenade very well because I’ve done many of promenade performance in my time.  I was with a company called Taking Flight Theatre and we would often do promenade performances through forests, and it adds a completely new dimension to theatre doesn’t it?

Julia Goulding:    00:15:17
Absolutely, yeah, it just… it brings it to life so much.  And, yeah, it’s just, it’s fabulous, I had a great time, it was a really wonderful vision that our director had and pulled it off brilliantly.

Neil Hancock:    00:15:32
What was it like being in New York?  I mean, where did you go particularly in New York that has a lasting memory?

Julia Goulding:    00:15:41
One of my favourite memories was we docked in Brooklyn, and it was about 5:30 in the morning, and Laura and I, we were so excited, we got up early and we ran out and ran out on deck to see the skyline of New York.  And we ran out and it was complete white out, there were just clouds everywhere and you couldn’t see a thing.  And then suddenly there was a huge electrical storm over Manhattan, and slowly the clouds lifted and you could just make out the skyline, and it was just so magical.  And then we looked to the left and you could just see the Statue of Liberty, just very faintly, and getting clearer and clearer.  And we both got really emotional because it was my first time to New York, and obviously, it’s… we’ve seen it in so many films and it’s just so iconic, you know, that skyline and seeing the Statue of Liberty and, yeah, we both, we got both got quite choked up to be honest.  And then by about 7:00 a.m. when we got off the ship, it was so hot already, it was ridiculous.  I couldn’t believe how hot it was and it was only June (chuckles).

Neil Hancock:    00:16:49
What are the differences, are there any differences when you act on a cruise ship as opposed to doing theatre, on land as it were?  I mean, is there a difference in terms of the audience?  Are there different types of productions that would only work maybe on a cruise ship that maybe wouldn’t work anywhere else?

Julia Goulding:    00:17:10
Well, the only thing about the theatre was it was built for dance.  So, it was very, very heavily carpeted.  So the acoustics weren’t great in terms of… I mean, because it was huge, it was probably about a thousand seats, it was absolutely massive, and it was a Proscenium Arch but with a thrust stage.  So yeah, the acoustics weren’t fabulous, but… (chuckles) and also, you know, if it was particularly rocky water, you would feel the ground move, (chuckles) so.  But, yeah, no, apart from that, it was just the same as doing a theatre production anywhere else.

Neil Hancock:    00:17:49
And this is the question I ask all my guests when they come on, what has been your greatest challenge either in your career or your life or both to date?

Julia Goulding:    00:18:00
The greatest challenge has probably been to not compare myself to others and persevere.  I mean, career-wise, you know, yeah, just to keep going and believe in myself and have that confidence and feel worthy of the achievements that I have.  But then in my personal life, the hardest thing I’ve ever done is give birth (chuckles).

Neil Hancock:    00:18:27   
And what was it been like for you personally managing a career as an actor on Corrie, where we’ve already established that the hours are quite long, and also balancing motherhood as well, that must be challenging in itself?

Julia Goulding:    00:18:45
It is indeed, yeah, it’s… and it’s very challenging.  I took three months off for maternity, and they were great actually because when I went back they put me on reduced hours so I only did three days a week.  And that’s for about four weeks.  And then we went into lockdown, because it was last March 2020 that we went into lockdown, wasn’t it?  And so then I got to spend another 12 weeks at home with him, which was lovely, it was really nice, and also my husband was at home as well at the time so it’s just the three of us.  And yeah, you just make it work.  You know, I miss him terribly when I don’t see him for 12 hours, but that might… you know, I might just have a weeks’ worth of that.  Because the schedule changes so much.  If you’re quiet in storyline, you might have more time off.  If you’re heavy in storyline you might be in more.  We’ve got great support network around us with the grandparents.  And again, because myself and Ben are both from Manchester so we’re lucky enough to have both our parents around, which is very handy for babysitting duties.  So yeah, you just make it work.  And, you know, Franklin is an absolute delight, and he’s quite used to going to his grandparents’ house, you know, for the day and stuff, and he has loads of fun there, so yeah.

Neil Hancock:    00:20:06
I only ask because my sister is home-schooling my five-year-old nephew, and that is a challenge in itself (chuckles).

Julia Goulding:    00:20:17
I feel so, so sorry for people that have to home-school.  A lot of my friends are doing it, and I wouldn’t know where to start.  Mainly because they’ve changed the way they teach kids these days, you know, like you don’t do long division like you used to.  However, I’m quite lucky because Ben, my husband Ben has just finished training to be a primary school teacher, so if this does carry on (chuckles) we’re going to have somebody at least in the house that knows what they’re doing when it comes to teaching children.

Neil Hancock:    00:20:47
Now, I want to go back to Corrie because you said earlier that when you’ve not got a heavy storyline, you’re not in as much.  When do you know, as an actor, that you’re going to be involved in a big storyline, when are you told?  How far in advance can you prepare?

Julia Goulding:    00:21:04
Fairly far in advance.  If it’s a really big storyline, the producer will have a chat with you about it, things like that.  And, I mean, the whole… the way they schedule things, I honestly, I don’t know how they do it, it is a machine a place.  So we have a schedule board that…  Well, when more people were in the building, it used to spread across one of the walls of the production office which is absolutely gigantic.  So, you could go along and look to see when you’re in, when you are sort of in heavily, when you’re lighter.  But now we get that sent to us which is nice.  So, you know, you can look up to about eight weeks in advance of when you’re working.  However, these schedules are all subject to change, so we usually get our definite schedule the Friday, before we start filming on the Monday, but we do get our scripts a few weeks before that in advance.  So, you don’t know what scenes you’re doing, but you have read them and you are able to learn them and things like that.  It is a machine though.  Honestly, I don’t—I can’t even—it’s taken me this long just to get my head around it and I still don’t really know what’s going on (chuckles).

 Neil Hancock:    00:22:17 
Are there any particular scenes… I mean, you don’t have to give me any details, but are there any particular scenes that have had to change because of the pandemic, particularly to you?

 Julia Goulding:    00:22:30   
To me, not really, I don’t think.  Nothing storyline-wise as yet, I don’t think.  But there has been a lot of rewrites, obviously, because of the way we have to film now.  So, whereas you're used to be able to have the Rovers absolutely packed to the rafters, we can only have up to five people in there now just to keep everybody safe.  And, you know, I think they’re making it work and they’ve got a really, really tough job on their hands, but it’s just fabulous the way that they’ve done it and, you know, the level of care that they put out for all the production team and the actors and crew and stuff, they’ve done it really well.  So, a lot has changed.  But no, for me, I think, I’m not sure if anything has at the moment.  Obviously, I couldn’t tell you, if it had.

Neil Hancock:    00:23:19
(Chuckles) And that leaves me to, what are your plans for the future either in Corrie?  I mean, other any good storylines coming up?

Julia Goulding:    00:23:29
I couldn’t possibly tell you about upcoming storylines, Neil (chuckles).  No, but plans for the future, I think… I’d love to stay in the show, I really would.  So yeah, and as long as I’m happy there and as long as, you know, they’d have me, I’m more than happy to stay, yeah.  And to be honest, I just want all this to be over now because it’d be really lovely to be able to see my friends (chuckles).

Neil Hancock:    00:23:53
I know how you feel, yes.  Because Skype and FaceTime are one thing, aren’t they, but seeing people in the flesh I think is… there’s a certain energy about seeing someone face-to-face, isn’t there?

Julia Goulding:    00:24:06
Mm, absolutely.  You can’t beat the hug, you really can’t beat the hug.  So, yeah.  But, you know, and it—and, you know, because it’d just be nice to get back to normal sort of work-wise as well, you know, I want to get my cup of tea back on set (chuckles).

Neil Hancock:    00:24:24
Thank you, Julia.  Thank you for being a guest on the show.

Julia Goulding: 00:24:27 
Thank you very much.  It’s been an absolute delight.  Lovely to talk to you, Neil.

Neil Hancock:     00:24:31
 Lovely to talk to you, too.  Take care.

Julia Goulding:    00:24:32 
Take care!

 (Music plays in background)    00:24:32

Neil Hancock:    00:24:35  
If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please follow me on Twitter, @NeilOnWheelsPod, and also on Instagram, The Neil On Wheels podcast.  Until next time.

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Duration 25 minutes and 6 seconds