Vicky Myers is Heidi Regan

Vicky Myers plays the youngest of four sisters and the beauty salon’s ‘Lash Queen’ in this family drama. Here she reveals the unconventional research she did prior to her audition.

"I went into a beauty salon and had a lash lift, which is where you have your lashes permed, because I didn’t know too much about that side of beauty and wanted to learn, since Heidi is the Lash Queen. It’s fantastic, it lasted so long and it is very effective!

"I asked if I could sit in the salon afterward and just listen in to everything going on around me. When they were drying people’s hair I could hear them repeating certain sayings that come in those moments, which is where some of Heidi’s came from. I just sat there trying to listen to all of the terminology and observe their techniques so I could implement them. We had one scene where I had to put false lashes on Bel, who is played by Polly Walker, and I did it in one take so I was very proud of myself."

Eyelashes were not the only dramatic change Vicky’s look under went for this project.

"My hair was very long and very blonde before we started filming, but we needed the viewers to believe what was going on so I chopped it all off and we dyed it pink. We created this unique colour of candyfloss pink - you can’t buy this in the shop. It took three attempts but we got it in the end and I have had bright pink hair for four months and loved it. I have been quite astounded by the amount of people who have stopped me in the street just to tell me they love it or to ask what the colour is, so it has actually generated some interest in the show itself!"

Vicki had an immediate connection to her character, Heidi. She explains why she has enjoyed playing this role so much:

"There were certain aspects of Heidi that I could understand and really relate to. She’s a single mum like me and has aspirations for her daughter; I have a daughter and so I empathise with that. Heidi is the youngest of the four sisters and she is very much the baby and she is treated and behaves as such. She is into the idea of fairy tales and magic and believes one day her prince will come and take her away from all of this madness, so she has built up this impenetrable bubble which allows her to cope with everything that goes on around her.

"Her daughter’s name is Disney and with a name like that you can just imagine what goes on in Heidi’s head. She is a wonderful character to play because she is always happy, even though inside her heart is breaking she will always have a smile on her face. You would never catch her without mascara on or her fabulous lipstick. The only person in her life as far as she is concerned is Disney. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in my mind that I wanted to play Heidi and I was over the moon when I had been told I had been gifted this character."

Heidi’s relationship with her on-screen daughter, Disney (Isabella Gill) is incredibly important to her and Vicki tells us a little about that bond they share both on and off screen:

"Heidi wants the best for little Disney and she has figured, to run along with the fairy tale theme, that Disney is going to be a beauty pageant queen - and she is going to win, no matter what. So she drills Disney on her routines and her performances but really Disney isn’t that bothered, as you could image most nine year-olds wouldn’t be. She just wants to play football, she doesn’t want to wear heels or make up and she certainly doesn’t want to wear a princess crown, but she does so for her mum and that is because they share a unique bond."

"Isabella, who plays Disney, is an absolute joy to be around. She is the most unaffected, kind-hearted little lady and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with her. She is so talented, she has made my job easy. There are routines we have had to do so we have spent a lot of time together rehearsing and she works so hard. She calls me mum number two - I am really going to miss her."

Vicki has always been a big fan of writer Debbie Horsfield, and explains what it has been like to work with her:

"I am Northern-born and bred so I have loved the whole concept of being in this dysfunctional family with all of the sibling rivalries, but also knowing that if anyone else were to try to penetrate this bubble they would be entering a lion’s den. There is an undeniable strength that pulls them all together.

"The way Debbie has written this series is littered with that Northern humour, the idea that something horrendous can happen but you can smooth it over with a bit of humour. That is testament to the heart of Manchester, which Debbie has absolutely captured in Age Before Beauty. I was always a fan of Debbie so to have the opportunity to be involved in one of her projects and especially something of this magnitude, feels like a dream come true. She builds fantastic families and she writes from the heart, so it is truthful and raw.

"It is great to also see such roles for women that are all so different. The sisters all have their own identities and are completely different to one another, but when you scratch the surface you find all of the reasons for that - what they have each been through which has caused them to end up the way they have. There are so many layers to this show."

A Foreword by Debbie Horsfield

"In 2001 I worked with Laura Mackie and Sally Haynes on a series called Cutting It, which was set in the world of hairdressing. Fifteen years on, Laura, Sally and I were discussing what had changed in the world of makeovers and personal grooming, and we agreed that women - and increasingly, men - had become much more obsessed with looking youthful. The anti-ageing side of the beauty industry had exploded in those intervening years so we thought it would be interesting to explore the impact on three generations of one family by using it as the backdrop to our saga.

Age Before Beauty explores the expectations we have, and the 'rules' we create about what people are 'allowed' to do at any given age. It was inspired by a feature I read about what women were and weren’t 'allowed' to wear, according to their age and shape! [No bikinis after 35. No long hair over 40. No mini-skirts after 25. No leather trousers ever unless you’re 6ft tall and a size 8!] It made me wonder what other rules are there out there, which people feel they have to abide by? Especially in a world of selfies and social media where so many people are keen to pass judgement and so many people feel they have much to live up to.

So Age Before Beauty became less about specific anti-ageing beauty treatments and much more about characters deciding to confound age-related expectations - for better or worse - at whatever age they fancied! I say for better or worse because one of the things we explore is the midlife crisis. We ask the question: Is it automatically better to be young? Does age always envy youth? Is beauty always the thing to aim for? Or does youth and beauty ever have anything to learn from age and maturity?

We’re looking at three generations of one family and exploring how they deal with the demands of youth, age and everything in between. And how they confound expectations. So for instance, the worst-behaved generation is actually the oldest and the most sexualised and overdressed is actually a nine year-old!

Family has always played a large role in my work and I enjoy exploring the dynamics between siblings and different generations. In Age Before Beauty we have three generations, aged from nine to late 60s, and we’ve been fortunate enough to assemble an extraordinary cast. The drama is set in my home town of Manchester. Obviously I’m biased but I feel there are particular qualities about the city (its vibrant multiculturalism and ever-changing faces) and its inhabitants (their resilience, irreverence, inventiveness, humour) - which make for particularly entertaining drama.

It’s been fun to return to the world of contemporary Manchester after being immersed in 18th century Cornwall for the past few years, but in truth I’ve loved both worlds and would happily return to either and both!"

Related Programme Information

• Episode one
• Episode two