~*~MeL~*~
Melanie Burton aka Cassie Powney
How did you get the part of Mel? Before HOLLYOAKS I did quite a lot of amateur theatre round where I live and at school; then I got an agent with my twin sister. We had a lot of twin auditions, but the biggest break we had was a film this summer, What A Girl Wants, where we played twins obviously. It kind of went from there, really. Ironically enough me and my sister then decided to ditch the sort of novelty twin acting and go our separate ways, and spent the good part of a year writing off to separate agents in London to get ourselves established as separate actresses. Connie and myself both got an agent and then when Connie`s agent found out she had a twin she got really excited because there were HOLLYOAKS twins coming up. So we sort of got dragged back into the twin thing. Not that I`m complaining, because it`s fantastic.
How would describe Mel`s personality - and how she fits in with the other students? When she first arrives she`s a very shy and naïve little creature. I think it`s quite shocking that she makes friends with two quite boisterous, large characters, the two boys Robbie and Joe. But I think it takes time, then she comes out of herself, and you see when the family comes in it brings out quite a feisty streak in her. She`s not at all like how she comes across in the first episodes.
What`s it like spearheading the arrival of a new HOLLYOAKS family – how do you get on with your prospective relatives? I suppose there`s a little bit of pressure there. You`ve got to set up a good start for the family. But no, I love the scenes we do when the family comes in, cos I think that`s when my character finds herself, and that`s where I found my character, where she did move on from this mousy little girl.
When were you introduced to your on-screen family? I met my brother first, Chris, who plays Justin. We had a few scenes together first, and we get together really well, and act like we`re brother and sister now. Then we met Richard, our mum`s boyfriend, and Andree, who plays our mum, together, and luckily we all get on amazingly. It`s really lucky that we all work well together.
What kind of responses have you had from friends and family so far? Everyone`s over the moon. I`ve come from quite a small town where everyone knows each other and it`s quite a big thing that someone has gone onto a show like this. So everyone`s really supportive and I`ve only had positive feedback, lots of people ringing and texting and giving their support and congratulations. That means a lot to me, that really does.
How would you like to see your character develop in the future? Obviously like every actor I`d like to get some big heavy storylines a few months down the line, anda bit of romance, definitely, considering I`ve been shooting for a few months and not had a screen kiss, it`s not on! I`ll have to march up to scripts and demand a screen kiss soon. Yeah, I think she needs a bit of romance in her life, she`s a bit of a lost soul, definitely a man in her life.