~*~LiSa~*~
Lisa Hunter aka Gemma Atkinson
How did you feel about getting the part of Lisa Hunter? It was quite exciting really because I’d never done any acting before. It was my first time, so as well as being nervous I was excited with it all.
Do you remember your first day on set? Yeah, we were filming at the school and it was with Jonathan Le Billon (who plays Brian). It wasn’t too bad because it was just me and Brian and it was just a really nice day. ‘Cos he’d been in it for quite a while he was telling me people’s names and what to do and the what phrases meant used by the camera man! So it made it really easy and after that I just sort of fell into it with everyone else
How’s it been gelling with an onscreen family? It’s good! It’s kind of like a surrogate family when you’re not at home! Cos we work together all the time I spend more time with the Hunter family than my own family - living in Manchester and working in Liverpool I’ll sometimes stay over. And I get on with them all really well, so it’s really good.
Are you happy with the response the self-harming storyline has got? Yeah it’s really good – some fan mail has been a bit sad, with people telling me their problems and things but it is good that they're looking to HOLLYOAKS for advice, and we do have helpline numbers at the end of some shows which hopefully help people. But I’m just glad that the work I’ve put into it, and the research has paid off.
You say you haven’t done much acting before, but you’ve ended up with a lot of emotional scenes in HOLLYOAKS. How has that been? It’s been difficult because I’m not really an emotional person myself - I’m not really soppy or anything. But some of the directors have given us training and helped us through it. And it’s things like just practicing at home in front of a mirror or reading through the script with your mum – it all pays off really and you get used to it in the end. It’s easy in the end.
Finally, what do you think of the various websites dedicated to Lisa? I think they’re fantastic! I’m glad people have done it. Some of the stuff they put on it is a bit weird but I guess you get that with every website. But I’m glad because it’s a response back to me, for the work that I’ve put into it so I’m really pleased with it