Cheryl’s West End co-star Jake Wood has waded into the debate about celebrity castings in theatre.
The EastEnders star, who played Max Branning for 15 years until 2020, was recently called in to return as Ben in 2:22 A Ghost Story alongside Cheryl, 39, after People Just Do Nothing’s Hugo Chegwin was forced to pull out due to illness.
Jake, 50, appeared in the original 2021 production alongside Lily Allen, who was the first non-acting celebrity to step into character Jenny’s shoes before ex Love Island host Laura Whitmore took up the challenge in 2022, and most recently Cheryl in the current West End run.
Casting celebrities with no prior acting training in West End roles has long been controversial with many people criticising the move as a cheap way to sell tickets and hit headlines, while leaving many trained actors falling by the wayside and struggling to break through the industry to stardom.
But the EastEnders legend, who himself trained as an actor at the Anna Scher Drama School in Islington, doesn’t think it’s all that bad.
‘The demographic is quite exciting,’ he told Digital Spy.
‘I think there’s a younger audience. I think down to the very clever casting, we’ve got Cheryl on this one so we’re getting a lot of younger fans in. I think anything that gets a younger audience into theatres is an amazing thing.’
The Windsors comedian Louise Ford, who plays Lauren, added: ‘It’s nice that everyone is so young and so up for it.’
Scott Karim also stars in this most recent iteration of the 2021 Olivier award-winning play, written by the BBC’s Battersea Poltergeist and Uncanny podcast host and supernatural enthusiast Danny Robbins.
The play, which is once again directed by Matthew Dunster, follows Cheryl’s character Jenny, who believes her new home is haunted, while her husband Sam, played by Scott Karim, is a little more skeptical.
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Speaking exclusively to Metro’s Guilty Pleasures about not taking criticism to heart, the Girls Aloud singer said: ‘I can’t say that I really take it on that seriously, honestly. I think at this point in my career, I’ve heard everything I could possibly hear about myself.’
The Geordie continued: ‘If they’re surprised, good for them, they should come down and have a watch. They might be pleasantly surprised afterwards, who knows? And if they’re not, all of that is out of my control.’
But on the whole, fans are pretty happy with Cheryl’s performance, as the opening night saw her receive a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd who hailed her ‘phenomenal’ performance.
‘That was electric! I got so many goosebumps! @CherylOfficial made her West End Debut and was brilliant as Jenny so were cast members Scott Karim as Sam, Louise Ford as Lauren & Ben Cutler as Ben!’ one audience member wrote.
While fans seem to be enjoying Cheryl’s foray into acting, the singer’s wallet is too as it is believed the Fight For This Love singer is earning a very comfortable £1,000 for each performance – not bad for someone who hasn’t been to acting school…
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