In ITV's Cleaning Up, Sheridan Smith plays someone who lies, cheats and steals – and she could care less if you like her character or not.
The Gavin & Stacey actress is thrown headfirst into the world of financial crime in a drama series inspired partially by Hollywood film Wall Street about a cleaner who stumbles on some potentially risky information on the job.
In a recent chat with Digital Spy, Sheridan admitted that she took a totally different approach on set to many of her Cleaning Up co-stars because she's no longer "protective" of the roles she takes on.
"I wasn’t [protective]," she said. "I just laid it out there. I’ve learned now that you can’t be like, 'Love me, love me' to everyone, because they’re not going to [love you] if they don’t want to.
"If we’ve done our job right, the audience will be torn between what they think of her. They will be frustrated that she’s doing the wrong things, and it is a big moral dilemma. But it was fun to play that.
"Jade [Anouka], who was playing Jess, she would question the director and want to protect [her] role. But Sam is so flawed, like many people, and like myself. So I just enjoyed playing all those different facets of someone’s personality.
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"Of course, she’s got the gambling addiction. But she wants better for her girls. And at the end of the day, she’s a good mum, she’s got a good heart, she’s a loyal person to her friends. But she just makes some bad decisions."
This role in a gritty fictional series is a huge change of pace for Sheridan, who has probably had the most success in recent years starring in biographical dramas such as Cilla, The Moorside and Mrs Biggs.
"I do find it easier doing factual stuff, and it’s something that I’ve got to stop," she stressed. "I can’t just keep doing that. But I found it hard not having the research that you’ve got [playing a real person].
"I think I relied on getting to know people, and meeting Mrs Biggs, and meeting Cilla, and meeting Julie in The Moorside, and lovely Lisa Lynch [from The C Word], and just wanting to tell someone’s story. That’s what I thrived on doing. So this was a bit scary."
One of the things that drew her to Cleaning Up was an ending that even she wasn't expecting – of course, you'll actually have to watch to find out exactly what happens.
"I was expecting a different ending – it goes on a lot of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming," she said.
Cleaning Up airs on ITV on Wednesday, January 9 at 9pm.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
