Q&A with Sacha Parkinson

What do you think is special about The Driver?

For me personally, what I love about it is that it’s very true to home in a sense. It’s set in Manchester and some elements of the drama are a mirror image of some families I know – my family included – working class family, people being quite content in their marriage, things going at a steady pace and people just wanting a bit of excitement in their lives. I think that’s quite relevant in everybody’s relationships, families and lifestyle, because people think the grass is always greener, and people are always craving that little bit more. Danny Brocklehurst is a fantastic writer and he has a knack for writing about families and family relationships beautifully. His writing has so much truth to it, and it’s so real that you never have to invent anything, so it’s a pleasure to be involved in a drama that has such great material. He writes so naturally, and that’s what’s going to make it so relatable for the audience to watch. There are going to be so many elements that individual people can personally relate to, so it’s going to attract a wide variety of people as an audience.

What was it like working with David Morrissey?

He’s just brilliant. It’s ridiculous how talented he is. I learnt a lot from him actually, he’s really brave in the choices he makes. Not in the sense that they’re extreme, but just that they’re really simple choices and very small because he’s so natural at what he does, but he’s just brave to try things. I wasn’t on the shoot for a long time to be honest, but in those shots I learnt a lot just watching him, and how he approaches his scripts. He has a mind of knowledge about films and things, and I was just asking him questions all the time!

What is Katie’s relationship like with her Dad?

She actually loves him to pieces, which is actually probably why she is the way she is. The thing is, ultimately in this family, she’s become an only child because her brother isn’t there anymore, and because of that they don’t want to speak about it. Her Mum Ros never wants to speak about it whenever Tim’s name is brought up, and also with Vince as well. This isn’t in the script but we talked about it; Katie has just had to deal with that and she’s very aware there’s a big lack of communication within the family a lot of the time. I think she’s just taken a step back and got used to the fact that subconsciously no one has really shown her that much attention. Really, she tries to do things to provoke a reaction, to get something from them. That is because she loves them, because if she didn’t she would just do nothing. She just wants to make people speak to each other.

Did playing Katie remind you of your own teenage years?

It’s the first time I’ve been in a uniform again since Coronation Street! That was at the beginning as well, so I haven’t been in uniform for years – so that was strange. The way Katie’s written, it would be quite easy to play her just as the irritating, moody, angry teenager but she isn’t just that - I like the fact that she’s quite chilled and she just does it subtly and winds her Dad up a little bit. Also, when she has those scenes when she loses it, and all those hormones fuel this anger inside a teenager’s body – I was a very angry teenager and my hormones were terrible! So actually it was quite good that I had that experience, because now I can go back to that and use it! It was quite easy for me to go back to being a 16 year old actually! I remember it well.

What do you hope audiences will take away from watching this drama?

It’s so sad because you just go about your everyday life and you get quite blinded by the fact that people get themselves into these sticky situations, and so easily. One choice just has a snowball effect, and this drama just shows how easily that can happen. Actually growing up Manchester, like anywhere, I know that these things are quite easy to get involved in – it’s just knowing to make that choice of not to do it. No matter how exciting it is at that moment in time, you just have to think about the bigger picture, but obviously Vince is just blinded by that. This drama is really fuelled by adrenaline, in everyone’s case really. With my Dad and his big secret, and the smaller elements like my Mum and her working out all the time, and Katie’s adrenaline is just about her riling up her Mum and Dad the wrong way. No one has given anyone any attention, and the only way of getting that is by doing these things.

How would you summarise The Driver?

It has all of the elements of action films, all of the stuff that gets your heart pumping, your adrenaline going with excitement, but then it’s also with the added element of the family lifestyle that people can relate to. So it’s got so many positives, it’s a great mix.