~*~MaNdY~*~
Mandy Richardson aka Sarah Dunn
What were you doing before you started in the series? I was only 14 when I started in HOLLYOAKS so I was still at school. I was doing all my coursework - working up to my GCSE’s, and I was doing a little bit of modelling and going to youth theatre. Just doing school productions and things like that - hanging out with my friends - nothing really that exciting.
What made you go up for the part in HOLLYOAKS? I was with a modelling agency, and while I was with them they changed to a casting agency. They rang me up one day and said that the audition for HOLLYOAKS had come up and I fitted the description of what the people wanted and would I like to go along? So basically I just went along for the audition - to see what it would be like, for an experience and to say “yes, I auditioned for HOLLYOAKS once.”
What were you told about the character of Mandy at the start? The only thing they really told me about Mandy - I got a little breakdown of what she was like - and it was just that she was a 14 year old who acted like an 18 year old, and was too old for her age really. She went after all the lads and was a bit of a flirt, and that was it.
What was it like when you found out that you’d got the role? Were you nervous? When I’d found out that I’d got the part, my mum and dad came into my bedroom and went “we got a phone call today, and you got the part, you’re in it, you’re in HOLLYOAKS, and you’ve got two episodes!” The first day I remember coming in, I started about eight-o clock or something like that and I was so nervous and I was going over my lines again and again in my car, thinking “I’m going to forget them, I’m going to get on set and forget what I’ve got to do.” I didn’t really know what I was supposed to be doing so it was really nerve wracking.
You took part in the HOLLYOAKS LIVE fashion show in the summer. How did you feel performing in front of a live audience? Doing the HOLLYOAKS live thing was quite nerve wracking, because it’s not like anything we’ve ever done before. It was easy to be in character, because it’s quite easy to cover up your nervousness by pretending that you’re someone else. But it was still really nerve wracking and weird and it was like –“oh, I’ve got to get my lines right first time” and “everyone’s watching me” and “it depends on me to get it right so that we get the right reaction from the crowd”. So yeah, it was quite scary.
Mandy and Luke’s continuing on and off relationship has provoked loads of e-mails to hollyoaks.com. Have you enjoyed the fact that this storyline really seemed to get under people’s skin? Yeah, it’s been good having a storyline like this, because people keep watching and if there’s any slight hint that Mandy and Luke might get back together, people will watch the next episode to see whether anything happens. When Mandy was going out with Ben if they ever had a row (and they had a few!) people would always go – “maybe Mandy and Luke will get back together.” People always ask me, it’s a question that I get asked the most – “Are Mandy and Luke going to get back together?”