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24 January 2009 The Scotsman
"People have said that before," says Steele smiling, "but I've seen *Charlie's Angels...." Watching actors being photographed is fascinating. Some hate it, others like it a little too much. Dawn Steele just takes it in her stride, professional, patient and really quite sweet. "Oh my god, I look just like my mum," she says as she's shown the image captured on the little screen of the camera. "And that's a good thing." She's had a new fringe cut and it's straggling into her eyes a little bit. "I had five inches cut off my hair," she says, tugging her pony tail. "I was gutted having it done. I hate the hairdressers, I always leave with my hair wet before they've finished drying it. It just takes so long." If Dawn Steele ever was a prima donna, she's not now. She's funny and down to earth and I can't help thinking unmistakably, indelibly, Scottish. It's not just the way her voice rockets up an octave when she's emphasising (she's an arm-waver too), or that 'd'you knows' punctuate most of her sentences. She's full of chat – going off on long, full-speed blethers which finish with a sheepish "what was the question?". But it's also that, at least today, she's self-effacing and sometimes even a little unsure. "Sometimes I do wonder how good I am at all this," she says taking a sip of her drink. "I don't think I'm a very good networker. She sticks out her hand, does a fine impression of someone who is then squirms. "I suppose if I was better at that I'd be in Hollywood or who knows where. But I'm Scottish. You're brought up not to be a show off and to get too big for your boots. Sometimes I think it's a bad thing and that it'd be nice to be slightly more positive but it's fine. I think it's better to be like that than to be a big show off." But in a way it wouldn't be totally surprising if she was a bit full of herself. The ink on her first class degree from the RSAMD was barely dry when she landed a job as "Lexie" in *Monarch of the Glen, a part she played for six years. It might have been as couthy as a black bun, but it was a huge success. It meant that Steele learned on the job how act for the camera and it meant regular paycheques. The broadsheets called her "arguably Scotland's most successful actress" (you've got to admit we're not the best at compliments) and the tabloids dubbed Steele "Sexy Lexie", an epithet that's been hard to shake. Steele doesn't appear on screen in *Wild at Heart until tomorrow but already her character – vet Alice Collins – has been described as "sexy vet Alice Collins". Steele laughs. "I'll tell you, she's not sexy whatsoever," she says. "I'm wearing combats, boots... I suppose there is a thing with Stephen (Tompkinson who plays vet Danny Trevanion] but I don't crack a smile until episode 6! "I've seen the episodes and she's so different to me. She's very closed. She arrives shrouded in secrecy, you don't know where she's from, she's got a daughter but she doesn't sound the same as her, she's South African. She's really quite mysterious, but not sexy. She's a vet so she's up to her neck in hay and blood and guts." She's got a point. If ever an actor has suffered from a surfeit of media stereotyping it's Steele. Granted it's the "Sexy Lexie", "our Dawn" variety which is relatively harmless I suppose, but it doesn't half overshadow what is shaping up to become a really impressive career. Sure she's done her fair share of cosy Sunday night TV, making hearts race in Glenbogle. Yes, she's done the slightly wobbly paranormal drama *Sea of Souls. But she's also done the gritty Tinseltown and the historical drama The Key in addition to well received stints on stage in parts as diverse as Suzi Kettles in John Byrne's *Tutti Frutti – where she strutted her stuff in pink taffeta and a ginger wig – and most recently in David Harrower's critically acclaimed two-hander, Blackbird. If Steele feels underestimated, she hides it well. "It's like my name," she says wearily. "Every time I do a new part it's 'Dawn of a New Era', and it's like, well, not really. I'm always going to move on to new jobs." Or maybe it's that she's self-deprecating enough to understand the concerns. When Steele was cast as Una in *Blackbird, a woman in her late 20s who confronts the man with whom she had a sexual relationship when she was 12, some eyebrows were raised. Steele proved them wrong with a performance that was subtle and moving, but talking about it she says at first she wasn't convinced herself. "I remember reading *Blackbird and thinking wow, it's an amazing play. I knew about it obviously, that it had opened in Edinburgh and that it had won awards. The audition was a part of the monologue (a 10-minute segment of text] and I just remember thinking there is no way that I'll ever be able to remember all this. I just kind wrote it off. "Learning the lines is what worried me the most. It wasn't really the part or the subject matter. I kind of put it out of my head and then when I was offered it it did take me a little while to think about it, to be honest. Once I read it again I got more into it and by then my agent was like "you're doing it, it would be ridiculous not to". "I'm really glad I decided to take the plunge but I still can't quite believe I did it. It's probably one of the biggest parts I'm ever going to play. I still can't believe I learned all that." And that's the thing about Steele. Just when you think she's going to say something, well, a bit intense or even a bit luvvie about her craft, the emotional arc of a character, the demands of a particular role, she talks instead about learning lines or worrying about who she'll go for a curry with after rehearsals. It's disarmingly genuine and totally likeable. It's obvious that Dawn Steele has settled into life as a jobbing actor – enjoying the good times when they come along, happy to take the jobs that pay the bills at other times. She likes mixing TV and drama – "It's good for your head" – but if she's ambitious, she wears it lightly. She moved down to London straight after finishing Monarch of the Glen because she wanted to be nearer the work and put an end to spending 200 quid on a ticket to London for a 15 minute audition which she then didn't get. It's worked, she's landed parts, even if they've not always been the ones she might have dreamt of. "I've just done a voice over for Immodium," she says cheerily. "That's how glamorous I am." She laughs. So what's it like landing a part in *Wild at Heart? "I'm totally chuffed. It's a dream job. I went to the audition and I was first in. It's a big job and they were auditioning some big names. I was trying to look at the sheet actually but I couldn't read it," she says laughing. "I remember thinking at the time that if I got the part, that this job would be life changing." She's wary of the comparisons between *Monarch of the Glen and *Wild at Heart but they're inevitable. Steele used to spend six months in the Highlands pretending to run the crumbling pile in Glenbogle, now it's six months in South Africa pretending to be a vet on the game park. Both programmes are traditional Sunday night fare, family dramas as comfortable as your favourite slippers and a hit with audiences keen for a bit of end-of-the-weekend respite. The shoots were hard work but it's obvious Steele loved it. "At the audition they were saying it was really far away and that we'd be in the middle of nowhere but I think I've only done one job where I could stay in my own bed so I'm used to that. But then when I got there, it did really feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. Its an hour and a half from Johannesburg. The set's a game reserve, it's just acres and acres of land with giraffes walking around." Amanda Holden, who played Tompkinson's wife from the first series of *Wild at Heart, left midway through the last series. Steele knows what it's like to be a central character in a well loved drama series so I wonder if she felt the pressure of filling Holden's shoes? "I didn't really," she says. "I'm starting to feel it now though because people are asking me about it. Amanda was great in it. My character's a vet though, so I've got a lot more to do in terms of the storyline. "It's all the same crew that've been there for the past three
years which is a bit daunting. But no one made me feel like I was replacing
her, they were just really welcoming. Amanda was such a big character
and everyone loved her but, you know, I can hold my own, I'm alright." "When I was doing Fame Academy for Comic Relief I found that excruciatingly embarrassing. Being myself standing there singing...." She winces. "I just found myself sort of shrinking into myself whereas I don't think I'm like that – I'm quite outgoing. When you're in there with such big personalities, though, who're all brilliant and amazing you do find yourself taking a back seat and being the typical Scottish person who's like, 'I won't get involved in that because that's a wee bit embarrassing'." It's the same in the theatre. Steele doesn't even like taking a bow. Steele says that shooting *Wild at Heart has given her a real boost. There was lots to learn (how to use a shotgun and a tranquilliser gun for example) and plenty that's new. Not least the fact that the character she plays is a mother. "I said to Paul (boyfriend, and fellow Scottish actor Paul Blair], I don't know if I should be playing a mum and he was like 'Dawn you're 33, of course you could have a child', but because you don't have them yourself it is a bit weird. "I was born on my dad's 19th birthday so I grew up with really young parents so I always thought I'd have kids quite young. You just assume it'll be that way. I suppose now that I'm 33 I'm like OK, what about children? But I've decided that there's never a good time in this business. I don't worry about it but it is in my mind." She's obviously settled with Blair. "Oh yeah, we've got a dog (Murphy] so that's that. It's like having a baby. "I suppose at this age, I don't know whether me and Paul will get married but I definitely know I want to have children with him, whether or not we get married seems secondary now." Steele and Blair spent Christmas in Scotland with Steele's parents and her two younger brothers, Ross and Ryan, at home in Milton of Campsie. "It was funny because Paul was getting recognised left right and centre because he's in *Dear Green Place," she says. "It was all young boys," she launches into a pitch perfect Glasgow teenage boy impression. "Paul's really good with all that stuff, I'm a bit..." she grimaces. What? A bit nervy? "A wee bit. Not really nervous but just embarrassed. I don't think that ever goes. It's still a very strange concept that people can come straight up to you and think that they know you when they don't. I'm talking very small scale here – I'm not having to wear dark glasses to go out – but it is quite a weird thing. It's great, it's a compliment. It'd be different if people were telling you that they thought you were shite." "It's such a weird job. But anyway it's my job. I chose it." Steele's phone buzzes to tell her that it's time for her to go. As she gets ready to leave, heading to another interview on the opposite side of London, she rolls her eyes about her impending journey. Striding out in her high heeled boots, she smiles. "I've got my trainers in my bag." Of course she has. • Wild at Heart is on STV on Sundays at 8pm.
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