She’s worked with everyone from Dustin Hoffman to Christian Slater, but it was Corrie’s Rita who“gobsmacked” RSC actress Frances Barber into starstruck silence. Joining Coronation Street later this month as Celeste - the ebullient estranged aunt of Bernie Winter-Alahan (Jane Hazlegrove) - will be the highlight of her career.
She says: “The truth is that I’ve wanted to walk the cobbles for 40 years. It was on my bucket list. I’m a complete and utter fanatic. I grew up on it. I’m from a council estate in Wolverhampton, one of six kids. I know Wolverhampton isn’t Weatherfield, but it’s not that dissimilar.
“I used to be a Saturday girl in Marks & Spencer and the shoppers were like all the women on Corrie – strong, blunt, down-to-earth and very funny. I’ve loved them and respected them all my life, so it was always a dream. I thought ‘one day I will walk the cobbles.’ And I did, so I’m over the moon about it. It’s absolutely one of my career highlights.”
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During her 47-year-career, Frances, 68, has worked with the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company and performed at the National Theatre. But when she encountered Barbara Knox, who plays Rita Tanner, on the Corrie set, she says: “I was very, very nervous.
