'I'm just in my villain era'- Wigan's Kym Marsh as she brings Single White Female to Blackpool from tonight

Popstar turned actress Kym Marsh, perhaps best known for her roles on Coronation Street and Waterloo Road, is heading to Blackpool tonight with the world premiere stage production of Single White Female.

Based on the iconic 90s psychological thriller, the play- starring 49-year-old Kym as the antagoist Hedra ‘Hedy Carlson’ -is on at the Blackpool Grand Theatre between February 17 and February 21.

Before her arrival in our seaside town, Kym sat down for a chat with us where we chatted all things Blackpool and of course all things Single White Female...

How do you feel about coming to Blackpool with Single White Female?

“I'm very excited to be at Blackpool, thank you. Yeah, very much looking forward to it. I've been to Blackpool, and I did Greatest Days at the Winter Gardens a few years ago. I very much enjoyed it. I like being in Blackpool. It has a lot of memories for me, and my kids and grandkids still love going to the Pleasure Beach so Blackpool holds a special place in our hearts.”

Can you share any of your Blackpool memories with us?

“We have to mention that I was there with Strictly as well, so I made the Blackpool heats there. That was absolutely incredible. What an experience that was to be in that ballroom. That was just one of the best things ever. I was also in a band when I was about 17, and some of the members of that band were Blackpool based, so we would go and rehearse at - one of the boy's parents owned a pub, I can't remember what it was called now, but they had a pub, so we used to go and rehearse in that pub. Another one of them owned a little bed and breakfast so we used to go and stay there. And then you know, taking my kids to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and now my grandchildren to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. So lots of memories really. Oh and we used to always do a thing where my dad used to say ‘first one to see Blackpool Tower gets 20p’ so, yeah, lovely memories.”

Did you often win that?

“No, I have older siblings, you see, so the rivalry was intense!”

Will this be your first time performing at the Grand?

“Yes,I’ve not been to the Grand before so I’m really excited to be there.”

Have you been for leisure?

“No, I've not. I've never been. When we did Greatest Days, we had Kitty Harris in the show playing young Heather, and of course, Kitty played Cinderella last year at the Grand. But yeah, she's a Blackpool girl so it'll be nice to actually get there and perform there myself.”

What were the Blackpool audiences like last time you were here?

“Oh, they’re always lovely. It's just very warm, very warm audiences there, and they seemed to enjoy what we did very much so hopefully they'll enjoy this as well.”

Can you describe Single White Female to us?

“So it's a thriller based on an iconic 90s movie. Our version of this story is a woman called Ali who is a single mom, and she's struggling to make ends meet, so she decides to take in a roommate and advertise for a roommate. That's when my character, Hedra, makes her entrance.On the face of it, it looks like she's going to make everything better, and, you know, help out but what happens, actually, is that when their lives become intertwined, things take a little bit of a different turn.”

So what is Hedra like and do you find her at all relatable?

Hedra is a very complex character. She's obviously got a very dark history. I think there's a lot of things that happened to Hedra in her past that maybe people don't know or won't know. In the beginning, she is a photographer who, from the stories that she tells, seems very successful on the face of it all, but she does have, like I say, some very deep issues, and she is very multi-layered. You see lots of different sides to Hedra throughout the play, without giving too much away.”

You also appeared in Fatal Attraction, another psychological thriller with focus on the possessive, are you particularly drawn to these type of plays?

“I think I'm just in my villain era at the moment, and people just like casting me in those roles, which I'm not going to say no to because I enjoy them. They're great fun, you know, to play a character like that, to play someone that is so far removed from yourself, you know, the world's your oyster, really. So it's exciting. I'm happy that I'm being chosen to play different roles.”

Have you ever come across the play’s trope, an obsessive fan essentially, in real life?

“No, thankfully, I've not. I mean, look, you know, we all have people that follow us, left, right and center, which is lovely, it's very nice. But no, I've never had anybody be obsessive before.”

You are working alongside Lisa Faulkner as well, have you worked with her before?

“No, I've never worked with Lisa before*. Our paths have crossed briefly, here and there, we've got mutual friends in common, but we've never really met properly until we just did the photo shoot not long ago for the artwork. She's absolutely lovely. She's a really, really lovely woman, and I'm very excited to work with her. So, yeah, we just can't wait to get going now. We really can't.”

*We spoke to Kim before rehearsals started

Do you think you and the cast will get up to anything fun in Blackpool?

I mean, we're there in February so it's going to be quite cold. I did say ‘oh, maybe they might like to go to some fairground rides’ but I don't even like rides! I just like watching other people on them. So I don't know- fish and chips is always a good one in Blackpool, we need to do that. That's important. Go to the tower, have a look around. I've actually still got a little wax work at Madame Tussauds so maybe we'll go and have a laugh at that.

Why should Blackpool audiences come see you?

“Because it's epic. It's the world's premiere of this particular play. It's never been done before. It's never been set foot on a stage. If you love the movie, you'll love to play. If you've never seen the movie, you'll love to play. I just think it's going to be great. It's going to have people on the edge of their seats, so it's not to be missed for sure.”

Would you consider it scary then?

“Yeah, there'll be some parts of it that are scary. I would have thought there'll be some moments where you probably watch through your fingers!”

Have you got any plans for after Single White Female that you want to mention?

“I mean this show will take up six months of the year so it's a long time really. I'm definitely going to have a break afterwards because I turn 50 on my very last show in Malvern. So on the 13th of June, I'll be on stage on my 50th birthday. So I'm definitely going to take a break, do something for my fiftieth year, go away with my family and chill for a little bit before the next thing starts.”