Since she left Coronation Street, Michelle Keegan’s career has gone from strength-to-strength, and one man is her secret weapon. As Coronation Street’s Tina McIntyre, Michelle, 37, was an instant hit when she joined the cobbles in 2008. Leaving the show that made her a star in 2014 was a huge risk. Then her character was killed off against her wishes, ripping away her safety net.
After leaving the show, the Ten Pound Poms star told BBC Breakfast: “It wasn’t an easy decision, it took a few years for me to make that decision. It was a bit of a shock but looking back on the storyline and the characters and who it affected, it was running for a year and I was very lucky to go out on a high. It was a bit of a comfort blanket and at the time when I left Corrie I thought I would have liked the door to be left open because it’s always there but now I think it was definitely the way to go for me.”
(Image: Getty Images for the NTA’s)
Fortunately a promising scriptwriter spotted her talent and cast her in FOUR huge TV shows, boosting her career. His name was Danny Brocklebank, and he is the scriptwriter and producer behind Ordinary Lies, Brassic, Ten Pound Poms and the Netflix smash hit that was Harlan Corben’s Fool Me Once.
When he was promoting the first series of Ten Pound Poms, Danny told the Radio Times that he values working with Michelle. He said: We’ve done four shows … so yeah, we know each other pretty well now and we enjoy working together.”
(Image: Michelle Keegan Instagram)
(Image: @michkeegan/Instagram)
Running for two series, Ordinary Lies starred Michelle as a receptionist-turned-drugs mule called Tracy. Other stars in the cast included MacKenzie Crook, Jason Manford, Angela Griffin, Jo Joyner and Sally Lindsay but it was Michelle that Danny would be impressed by and go on to cast time and time again. He next signed her for Sky One hit Brassic which is currently filming its seventh and final season. A lead role in Ten Pound Poms followed and the series returned for its second series on BBC1 on Sunday, but it was Netflix hit Fool Me Once that made Michelle famous across the globe.
When Danny called Michelle to ask her to play military helicopter pilot Maya, she jumped at the chance. She explained: “I love thrillers. I love reading thrillers. I love watching thrillers. So, for me that was definitely a pull. And I was a massive fan of Harlan Coben’s work anyway. I had watched Safe and The Stranger and Stay Close. We really binged them. But I didn’t know that Fool Me Once was getting adapted until I got the call from Danny. He said, ‘What would you say?’ I said, ‘Count me in. Absolutely.’”
(Image: (Image: Netflix))
When Danny was writing Ten Pound Poms, which has all episodes available now on iPlayer, he knew early on he wanted Michelle to play Kate. He said, “Because we’d done Ordinary Lies and then Brassic… I don’t tend to write any script with a particular actor in mind as I’m writing the very first draft. But as it goes on, you obviously start to think who would be brilliant for certain parts and very quickly, I thought Michelle would be fantastic for Kate and it was a conversation we had with Eleven Film and the BBC. Then we started talking to Michelle about whether she’d be interested in doing something like that. I think the cast is terrific, I’m very pleased with everyone we’ve got, not only Michelle.”
Michelle was equally thrilled, saying: “For me, of course, Danny was writing it and I love working with him as you know.”
It’s Danny’s deft scripts that keep Michelle saying ‘yes’ to the roles he offers her. She said: “When it comes to scripts, Danny writes very strong female roles. He knows how to do it. There is a sort of grit to them, and I can relate to them as well.
In December Michelle announced that she was expecting her first child with husband Mark Wright. But her pregnancy didn’t stop her showing up to film the final series of Brassic in January, which is written by Danny. Wearing a big checked coat to hide her baby bump she was back on set as feisty single mum Erin.
Now Danny has hinted the team deserve a Bafta for the long-running series. He said: “When Joe Gilgun and I sat down to create Brassic, we couldn’t have imagined, in our wildest dreams, that we would do seven series and gather such a loyal and loving fan base.
“It’s been a complete joy to create this eccentric world, but all good things must come to an end, and we want to stop while we are still riding high. Maybe they can finally give us that Bafta.”
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