Siobhan Finneran has opened up about a special connection to one of her Happy Valley cast members – George Costigan.
The pair worked together a long time before the BBC One drama, in the raunchy 1987 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too.
And Siobhan recently told The Guardian how George Costigan’s wife “saved her career”.
Siobhan Finneran on how Happy Valley co-star helped “save her career”
Siobhan Finneran has starred as Catherine Cawood’s sister Clare since 2014 but she worked with George Costigan 36 years ago!
George Costigan has played Nevison Gallagher since the first series of Happy Valley too, and Siobhan told The Guardian how George’s wife “saved her career” many years ago.
After the release of Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Siobhan still didn’t have her Equity card, from the union for actors.
She said “I have George Costigan‘s wife, Julia North, to thank for my entire career.
“I still didn’t have an Equity card so I couldn’t work. Jules cast me in the chorus for this show called Poppy.
“I ended up half of a horse called Randy. I was the back end of Randy, but it finally got me an Equity card.
“Bless Jules – and Randy – because God knows what I’d be doing now.”
So sweet!
Read more: Happy Valley series 3 viewers make the same complaint after episode three
Siobhan says Clare is a “fragile” character
Fans stuck the boot into Clare when it was revealed that she and Neil were the ones taking Ryan to see villain Tommy Lee Royce in prison.
But Siobhan told the BBC that Claire is a “fragile” character.
Defending Clare, she said: “Clare is the very, very devoted sister to Catherine.
“They’ve got an amazing relationship which is, I think, one of the reasons the audience love it so much – because it’s very real and honest.
“Clare is quite fragile, she’s always been quite fragile and Catherine has always been her rock.”
But fans have a theory that Neil might be connected to criminal Tommy Lee Royce, and if he is, does this mean that Clare will be thrown off her stability before series 3 ends?
What is Rita, Sue and Bob Too?
It’s a comedy drama set in working-class Britain in the 80s, which centres around teenage girls Rita (Siobhan) and Sue (played by Michelle Holmes) who both embark on an affair with married man Bob.
After the girls babysit one night for Bob and his wife Michelle (played by Lesley Sharp), he drives them home – but they detour and the older man proposes he has sex with them in his car.
Bob utters the infamous line: “We ‘avin’ a jump or what?” And both girls oblige – and continue to see him, resulting in the breakdown of his marriage.
Happy Valley continues on Sunday, January 29 with episode 4 at 9pm on BBC One. Episodes are available on BBC iPlayer after watching.
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