Jodie Comer took acting inspiration from watching ‘Brookside’ as a youngster.
The 26-year-old star was born in Liverpool, where the now-defunct soap opera was set, and she still remembers tuning into the goings on of the fictional residents and dreaming of becoming an actress.
When asked what TV she used to watch as a youngster, she replied: "’Brookside’.
"That’s what I remember as a kid watching. It’s very different now."
Jodie made a name for herself on the small screen in the likes of ‘My Mad Fat Diary’ and ‘Doctor Foster’ before landing the "life-changing" role of Oksana Astankova/ Villanelle in ‘Killing Eve’ – for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series earlier this week – but her family keep her grounded.
Speaking on ‘Lorraine’, she added: "Life has definitely changed, but I’m still at home with my family.
"No one would ever let me get too big for my boots, that’s for sure.
"It’s incredible. These moments happen that you’ve always dreamed would happen, and it’s important to soak that up and appreciate it."
‘Brookside’ – which followed the lives of the fictional residents on a Merseyside housing estate – aired nearly 3,000 episodes over its 21 years on TV but finished in November 2003.
Claire Sweeney previously starred as Lindsey Corkhill in the soap, and the actress recently revealed the show’s bosses decided to make her character a lesbian in a desperate attempt to save the failing programme.
She said: "Phil Redmond was so pioneering with the storylines – the first lesbian kiss, the first incest story.
"I was a gun-toting, drug-dealing lesbian, and agoraphobic for a day. It was marvellous!
"The ratings were starting to slip a bit and I remember Phil Redmond saying to me, ‘How do you fancy becoming a lesbian? Ratings are dropping.’
"So I did the second lesbian kiss."