TV

Great LezBritain: Interview with Natasha O’Keefe of “Lip Service”

“Great LezBritian” is a fortnightly stroll through the very best of British lesbo-centric entertainment and culture. Plus there will be some jolly good interviews with the top ladies who are waving the flag for gay UK.

Hands up – who’s missing Lip Service? We feel your pain. You’ve most likely watched the DVD a fair few times, you’re currently stalking/going to see Heather Peace gigging around the UK, Frankie is still your computer screen-saver and every now and then you still press play on your download of Roxanne McKee saying “Turn over.” But try as you might, you can’t shake off these Tuesday Blues. Even Gillian McKeith’s pseudo fainting episode and Saturday night fixes of Minogue and Cole can’t stop you wondering: “For goodness sake, what happens next?”

Unfortunately, we can’t help you with any of that. Instead, we suggest you just pull yourself together until Series Two and maybe take up a hobby, maybe knitting or the likes? Or, alternatively, you could read this smashing interview with Natasha O’Keefe aka Sadie aka the Artful Dodgeress.

You may remember how much we loved the Dodgeress and all of her gurning, klepto, and morally bereft ways. And we were delighted by how many of you Tweeted us to say that you too had a soft or hard spot for Sadie. You said, “Why don’t you girls interview Natasha?” And we thought, “Well alright , because it’s probably time to stop refreshing the ‘turn over’ scene and write another column.”

So here it is, and we are pleased as punch to tell you that Natasha is an absolute diamond of a girl and not at all like mad Sadie – although just because we didn’t *see* her steal anything or shag a tasty blonde on the floor of the cafe, doesn’t mean she didn’t when our backs were turned. Obviously this is a joke but, Harriet Braun, if Sadie is not in Series Two, then it’s no joke that we will be most upset.

AfterEllen.com: We’ve asked everyone this question, so we must also ask you what your audition process was like.

Natasha O’Keefe: For the actual audition I really went for it, I dressed up in some leathers, blacked up my eyes a bit and messed up my hair. It was my first television job so I did feel quite naïve and didn’t really think too much about it again afterwards. When I got invited to go to Glasgow for the recall, I remember sitting in a room with Ruta [Gedmintas] and all the executives thinking: “This is all very scary.” After the recall I was invited to go for a cup of tea with Ruta and then later that day I was offered the part and found myself sitting in a room with around 60 people doing the read-through. So that was very much a whirlwind of a day.

AE: That sounds a brilliant day. What were your first thoughts on Sadie when you read about her?

NO: Straight away I thought this one is so full of character. I had a sense of her cocky attitude right away. Even in her second scene, when she is reluctant to speak to Frankie in the café and she doesn’t want to reveal too much, you can see that Sadie is just hardcore and I think immediately got her as someone who was dark, witty and fun.

AE: We don’t ever find out too much about Sadie outside of her relationship with Frankie. Did you create much of your own backstory for her?

NO: I didn’t have much time to develop much of a story for her, but I always saw her as someone that was very much a thrill-seeker, a drug-taker, a kleptomaniac and read up on those personality types. I also created a scrapbook of loads of words and pictures of what I thought encapsulated her and I would often refer to that.

AE: Did you and Frankie talk much before filming about how you were going to make certain scenes authentic?

NO: Because it was such a whirlwind audition process for me I didn’t really get a chance to know Ruta that well beforehand plus I didn’t join filming until episode two so we really just got to know each other as we went. We did have a few conversations in her flat over a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

AE: Were there any scenes that you felt excited by or felt hesitant about or did you just throw yourself into it all?

NO: Probably the one I was most hesitant about was the second scene I filmed with Ruta, which was our sex scene which comes in at the end of Episode 2. I thought the scene was totally necessary and not gratuitous at all but it was my first ever TV role and it was only the second time I had ever spoken to Ruta and there I was naked going for it full throttle. [both laugh]

But I couldn’t have asked for any better person to do that with. Ruta was so supportive. The scene I enjoyed the most was when we were trashing the house in episode 4 because we did literally just get to trash the place. I did also really enjoy the scene when Frankie and Sadie spoke to each other for the first time in the coffee shop because I really liked the chemistry and the playfulness of it. There were just so many scenes that I just had so much fun with. I couldn’t have asked for a better first television job.

AE: Did you have any expectations on the impact and how big Lip Service was going to be?

NO: I had a feeling it was going to cause a stir. [laughs] It was probably seen as a bit of a risk that BBC Three were taking, I mean it’s The Beeb, “They’re not suppose to do that sort of thing” but I think it’s about time. I hoped that the stir would be positive one and I do think that everyone seemed to enjoy it and warm to it.

AE: Do you get recognised a lot?

NO: No – I look totally different to how Sadie looks so I am not surprised by that really. My hair has grown back and my face isn’t so dark and painted. I was actually growing my hair but then had to have it cut for an Oasis video I was in. I then went back to growing it but got it chopped right back up to my ears to play Sadie. I do think the hair suits her look perfectly.

AE: How was it being in the Oasis video for “Falling Down“?

NO: I played a kind of Princess Margaret character which was very fun. I was actually speaking to Derek Wax, the executive producer of Lip Service, and he told me that he had watched the Oasis video as part of my casting process because he didn’t really have a lot else to go on for me, and I was well chuffed they had seen it. It’s great to have, but I’m not very good at watching myself. It tends to be through fingers.

AE: Do you think there are similarities between you and Sadie; do you have any of the Dodgeress’ cheek?

NO:I wish I had balls like Sadie. I’m really not that hardcore, sorry if that disappoints anyone. She’s a very different character to me, but I do like some thrilling things and some people I know may argue that there are some similarities.

AE: Would you like a second series to be commissioned?

NO: I would love it to come back. It totally deserves a second series, everyone had such a marvelous time on it and hopefully Sadie would be written back into it. I was actually reading some AfterEllen.com comments and saw that some people were interested in knowing a bit more about Sadie, so I think in a second series we could see a bit more of her world.

AE: That would be exciting … I think she does have quite a cult following and although some people weren’t convinced by her at the beginning, she certainly won them round at the end.

NO: I am technically sh–e with Twitter and all these things, but Ruta has been informing me of the comments online, and hearing that Sadie has a little following makes me feel well chuffed. I think in the fourth/fifth episode she really comes to life because she’s stirring things up and although I’m not sure if she is a good friend, she is definitely a lot of fun.

AE: You mentioned Ruta, do you see any of the other cast?

NO: There was a Lip Service lunch last week for the cast and the executive producers to celebrate what a success the show had been. It was lovely to see them all and we stay in contact a bit, but I do see more of Ruta than anyone. I suppose because we did get to know each other quite intimately – you could say.

“Great LezBritain” authors Sarah, a Londoner, and Lee, a Glaswegian, met in a gay discotheque one bleak mid winter, eight years ago and have been shacked up together ever since. When not watching Tipping The Velvet, they find time to write, run a PR company, DJ at their own club nights and love a bit of jam on toast. Follow them on Twitter at greatlezbritain.

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