Karen Hassans popular Hollyoaks character Lynsey Nolan may have met a tragic end in summer 2012, but TV and film fans havent seen the last of the actress as she has a number of new projects being released in the coming months. The former soap star will be seen reprising her role as Annie Brawley in series two of The Fall later this month, while she has also recently been filming a brand new part in historical drama Vikings for the History Channel. We recently caught up with Karen for a chat about her new jobs, her future plans and her memories of playing Lynsey. How would you sum up life after Hollyoaks? Leaving Hollyoaks is definitely a transition because youre moving on from a regular job where youre working in the same place every day and you have security. Stepping out of the show is a brave move, but some of the programmes that Ive been lucky enough to get parts in since then have been really great ones. Getting to be part of The Fall season one and now season two has been brilliant. After landing the part in Vikings as well, I can only really see things developing from there in a good way. What can we expect from you in the next series of The Fall? Im not allowed to give too much away, especially as people have been waiting so long for the show to come back on screen again! I dont want to spoil any surprises, but what I will say is that we had a screening for it recently and I was gripped when I watched it. When I was reading the scripts for season two, I knew that it was going to look amazing on screen and it genuinely doesnt disappoint. I think the first season was really dark, but season two is even better. What was it like to work so closely with Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson? Brilliant - its been so good. As well as being a great actor, Jamie is such a great guy and very personable and down-to-earth on set. Jamie playing Paul Spector was the perfect choice, because he doesnt look like youd expect a serial killer to look and thats great for the story. With Gillian Anderson, I grew up watching The X Files so I was just excited to meet her, but to get to work with her was an eye-opener. A situation like that just pushes you to be a better actor, because I felt that I wanted to impress Gillian whenever I was in scenes with her. Shes someone whose career Ive followed for a long time and Im really happy with all of our stuff together. Did you ever expect The Fall to become such a hit? I remember reading it when I first had the audition and thinking that it was something special. Sometimes you get scripts through where a show translates better on screen - its a bit like picking an item of clothing up and it looks better on! The Fall was different because I could see that it was great straight away and could imagine it looking even better on screen. I was a bit overwhelmed when everybody started asking me questions about the show and it just snowballed from there - its absolutely huge now! My friend sent me an article once where Winona Ryder was being interviewed and she mentioned that she was a fan of The Fall - the fact that shes seen us is immense! What can you tell us about your role in Vikings? I cant reveal too much, but I can say that Ive got an opportunity to play a character I never thought I would get. Im completely thrilled with it and its like nothing Ive ever played before, so Im loving the challenge of it. I was actually a really big fan of Vikings before I joined it. Its just so easy to act in an environment where theres such good production values, as the whole set is created for you. Thats everything down to 100 extras being there, to a whole Viking village being built around you! I cant really say much else, other than that Im really thrilled to be part of the show and Im looking forward to seeing it myself. Was it a long audition process? No, I just did one tape. It completely took me surprise when I got the part. I did the audition, but sometimes as an actor you just have to let go of it after that and not think about it. I was playing tennis with a friend and mentioned that Id never heard back from the show, but then I literally heard back later that day. Id completely put it at rest, but then I got the phone call to congratulate me. Weve heard that youve also done a couple of films since leaving Hollyoaks. Yes, Ive done a film called High Rise which stars Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller and Luke Evans. I was very fortunate to get a small part in that. Its strange and spectacular in all of the best possible ways! Ive also done another film called The Caravan, which is a lovely piece. Its about a father and a son with a broken relationship. The mother in the family is the glue that holds it all together, but unfortunately she passes away. The film explores how this father and son build up a relationship by going to their holiday caravan. I play the girlfriend of the lead in the film, and my part is to smooth things over between these two really strong male characters. Would you like to do some more theatre? Who knows what next year is going to bring? Whatever happens, Im hoping that now things have started rolling, it will move onto new work. Ill always do theatre, but TV and film are my first love and thats where I want my career to go. Any actor worth their salt will always put themselves on stage because its good to challenge yourself. Theatre work makes you become a better actor as youre discovering new skills, new characters and it doesnt allow you to get lazy. As an actor its always good to keep a balance between the two. Is it challenging to go from a regular soap role to becoming a jobbing actor again? Definitely, but I think it was good that before I joined Hollyoaks, Id been a working actor for eight years. It is an adjustment period because its like a family when youre on a soap and its really enjoyable work, but I didnt start my career there. When I left that, it wasnt as big an adjustment as it possibly could have been if it had been my first job. Ive never really not had a job, so in that year where I was leaving, I was training as a nail technician, I was going back and studying, I was writing a script and just generally keeping myself busy in other ways. I think thats important to do, because you could just be sitting there looking at four walls. Being an actor is quite a hard profession and you need a thick skin. You dont really need a thick skin for getting rejections and bad press, but for when you need to pick yourself up, get yourself motivated and try to create new opportunities for yourself out of thin air. I was lucky that I built that up before I joined. Looking back, do you think you left Hollyoaks at the right time? For me definitely, because I dont know what else I could have really done with my character. I could have stayed on and possibly had a few more storylines, but because the Silas story was such a hit and it rolled on for a year, it was like reaching the top of the rollercoaster. That meant it was a good time to leave on a high. I didnt want to just potter along. That may not have happened, but the thought was there in my mind that the story had been a huge success, so it was time to see what else I could do as I didnt want to rest on my laurels. People still fondly remember Lynsey, especially when Halloween comes around and fans look back on Fright Night! Does it mean a lot to still get that response? It does! Its so lovely to still get the feedback. I always say that Hollyoaks fans are the craziest, best fans you could find for any soap! They were so loyal to us and we really felt it as a cast. It does feel special to have that support behind you. Obviously because the show has a younger audience, you get instant feedback on Twitter. People have kept pictures of Lynsey and they still post those up, which brings back really nice memories for me. I was working with Jeff Rawle and we just had the best time working on that Silas storyline. It was such a laugh being chased around the village in stiletto heels by a grandpa on a killing spree! It was so funny, but we really cared about it and wanted to make it properly scary. You do become attached to your character, so remembering Lynsey is almost like looking back at an old friend for me. Are you still in touch with many of the cast? I do keep in contact with quite a lot of people. I make a point of doing that, because working on Hollyoaks was a special time and it is important to keep genuine friendships. Im great friends with Bronagh Waugh as we knew each other before we joined Hollyoaks. Myself and Claire Cooper are as thick as thieves and shes doing amazingly well at the moment. I see Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove, Jessica Forrest, PJ Brennan, Beth Kingston, and Emmett of course! I also have to give a mention to Glen Wallace because hes doing brilliantly at the moment in EastEnders. Ive known him for such a long time, because I did my first play with him and then he played my boyfriend in Hollyoaks! Were still really good mates. Lots of those you mentioned are doing really well, so would you say there is a strong life after soap? I feel like its a really open book now. It used to be that you had soap actors and then you had other actors, but now people who have had a long career in TV and film are willing to go into soaps. People are less snobby about crossing over now. I think if youre an actor, youre in it for the long run - youre not just in it to get a couple of hit shows. Well probably still be acting in 20 years time, so if youve got that passion behind you, its definitely a long-term thing. Success will come to you if you keep going at it. Its great that so many people have got their start from soap and have taken benefits from it into their future careers.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 00:21:52 +0000
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