Perky Hannah Spearritt rated highly in lads' mag 'sexy babe' polls when she was in wholesome pop combo S Club 7. Post-S Club, Hannah, 26, took up acting, landing roles in such cinematic classics as Agent Cody Banks 2 and Seed Of Chucky. She can now be seen fighting prehistoric monsters on prime-time ITV1 action drama Primeval on Saturday nights.
You must be happy Primeval is back for a second series.
Yes, I was over the Moon. When we initially looked at the script it was quite risky, so for it to have been popular enough to get a second series is a great feeling. Any actor or actress is thrilled security-wise to get a second series because this industry is so up and down. It’s just good to be working.
Do you have more of an action role this time around?
My character’s martial arts background is more incorporated this time. I got a little bit of kick-boxing training. The stunt co-ordinator came to my house, we put a punchbag up and he taught me some kicks. I’ve been going to the gym three times a week and kept up the kick-boxing, but I’ve still got a lot to learn.
Do you have a favourite dinosaur on the show?
I really liked the 'future predator' monster from the first series. I prefer the monsters that they've made up rather than the real dinosaurs because you've never seen them before, there's nothing to compare them to, which keeps things fresh.
Have you filmed anywhere exciting?
We filmed the future sequences in Porta Ventura off Lanzarote. We did a few days filming there and then had the weekend off which was cool. It was hard work because the molten rock terrain meant you had to watch every step but we got fantastic footage. We had a really sweet trailer. It was a little caravan at the top of a cliff which me and my boyfriend Andrew, who plays Connor on the show, shared. It was cool.
Your character’s a zoologist. What other careers could you have pursued?
I didn’t have anything else to fall back on. I’ve got other interests, but I don’t have qualifications in them. I love photography and cooking, so maybe I’d have tried to get an apprenticeship as a chef.
What’s your speciality in the kitchen?
I do a great pasta and a good chicken broth, which is great if you’re feeling under the weather.
Do you miss being a pop star?
That’s a hard question. I don’t really, but I don’t want to seem ungrateful. I love acting and I probably wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for the pop stuff, so I don’t want to seem negative about it. I needed to do it, but I know it’s not right for me anymore.
What were the highs and lows of being in S Club 7?
It started off brilliantly. Going to LA to do the TV show was amazing. We were looked after really well and travelled the world. Towards the end, we started touring, which was cool. The lows were the last year. We were all really tired because we’d worked so hard and we knew mentally that S Club had to wrap up.
Do you still see any of the S Club lot?
Not all of them. I see Jon all the time; we always meet up for drinks. I saw Tina at Christmas and got in contact with Jo the other day. It’s one of those situations where we’re all so busy, but if we were thrown into a room together we’d be excited to see each other and we’d all get on.
What’s been your worst moment on stage?
When I was seven I did a solo dance performance at my local dance festival. My sister had choreographed it and put the music for the performance on a tape. I started the dance and the music started as it was meant to but my sister had recorded another song over it halfway through. The music suddenly changed and I just stood there frozen and got a bit scared. I should have freestyled. It was quite embarrassing.
You were in Seed Of Chucky. Do you like horror films?
Not really, I’m not a horror fan. I watched the Chucky films as a kid, so to be involved in one of the movies was cool. It was interesting to watch all the puppeteers make Chucky work.
What’s the best thing about coming from Great Yarmouth?
The mushy peas in the market are great. Do try them if you ever go there. I’ve never had mushy peas like them anywhere else.
Did you really play to an audience of two people in Snow! The Musical?
Not quite just two. We made a pact in the cast, which had eight people, that if there were more people on stage than in the audience we wouldn’t go on, so I think we played to nine people at worst. It shut before Christmas, which was unfortunate as it was a Christmas show. Obviously, you’d hope to perform to an audience of a greater number, but it was a nice work in progress. I enjoyed myself, it’s just a shame other people didn’t [laughs].
February 4th 2008 by Saara
New fan fiction
I've added a new great fan fiction by Vern. It really is worth reading:
Proceed
February 3rd 2008 by Saara
'Primeval' chiefs ban celebrity guests
Primeval producers have decided that they do not want celebrity guests to appear on the show.
Andrew Lee-Potts, who plays Connor Temple, revealed that programme chiefs do not want the cast to overshadow the deadly
creatures which cause trouble on the ITV1 drama each week.
"It was a conscious decision not to bring in celebrity guests on Primeval. We would rather the creatures are the stars,"
Andrew told the Daily Star.
"To be honest, when the series was launched last year, only Hannah Spearritt (Abby Maitland) and Douglas Henshall (Nick Cutter)
were known faces. They could have cast people just to try and get press, but they didn't. It was a risk but it worked."
ITV announced that it was commissioning a third series of Primeval earlier this week.
The current series continues at 7.10pm on ITV1 tonight.
February 3rd 2008 by Saara
Andrew was 'too handsome' for model
Bradford TV star Andrew-Lee Potts has been immortalised in plastic as part of a range of action figures released on the back of the soaring popularity of his Saturday night dinosaur thriller Primeval.
But Andrew, 28, of Wibsey was stunned when producers of the ITV show sent the five-inch poseable figure back for remodelling - because they thought Andrew's toy looked too HANDSOME!
Andrew, who plays geeky accidental hero Connor Temple in the show, said: "They go from your bone structure, and I've got quite a strong bone structure, even though I pull a lot of stupid faces.
"They did that, but they thought it was a bit too macho-looking, so they came back with another one where they made me look a bit more ugly! When my mum saw it she got a bit weirded out. It is really quite strange and surreal."
The figures, out now through Argos and other toy retailers, are based on the full set of characters from the hit show, including Andrew's co-star and real-life girlfriend Hannah Spearritt, the former S Club 7 singer who plays zoologist Abby Maitland.
more?
February 2nd 2008 by Saara
New design!
Welcome to the 15th version of Two In A Million! I named it You make me happy after Paul's lovely song.
I hope you guys like it because I do! :) It's the first time my layout features Hannah in dark hair.
February 2nd 2008 by Saara
Primeval perfect for star couple
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WHEN S Club 7 split up in 2003, many thought that would be the end of the tween sensations.
But one member of the pop band has come back bigger and better than before, although this time she has reinvented herself as an actress.
When Hannah Spearritt, the impishly pretty one from S Club, signed up to star as zoologist Abby Maitland in ITV1's Saturday sci-fi smash hit Primeval, she didn't realise it would be such a success, or that she'd bag herself a new bloke in the process. The boyfriend in question is her co-star, Andrew-Lee Potts, who plays her will-they-won't-they? love interest, Connor, in the show.
So, how do the lovebirds cope, living and working together?
"Working together 24-7 is always going to be a rollercoaster I suppose, but we're good because any problems we have, we have a chat about and work through," says Hannah.
"It was a journey," adds Andrew. "The last thing you want when you're doing stuff wrong at work is for your missus to be watching it, so there was all that mixed in.
"Also, as an actor I'm used to looking after myself, even though it sounds selfish," he continues. "But with Connor and Abby, because it was me and Hannah, it meant so much more and we so wanted to get it right. There were a lot of emotions on the set for us. If we do it again we're looking forward to it because we went through that whole journey and we learned quite a lot about each other."
Keeping quiet
"And we came out still together," says Hannah. The pair are keeping quiet about whether there is another series of Primeval planned after the current run finishes, but for now there are loads more creatures from the past and future for Professor Cutter and his crack team of experts to keep at bay in the remaining six episodes.
This week, a sabre-toothed cat turns up at an amusement park and begins gobbling up guests, but, after some investigations, it seems that the predator, which is supposed to be extinct, may be getting some help from somebody.
It's all high-octane stuff for a Saturday night, and despite comparisons being drawn with BBC One's Doctor Who, mostly thanks to the concept of time travel being present in both programmes, Hannah and Andrew insist that now it's in its second series, Primeval has an identity of it's own.
"I believe we won't get the comparisons this year," says Hannah. "This year it's established, and if you've watched the series it's obvious it's nothing like Doctor Who."
"It was frustrating for us last year," Andrew adds, "but without Doctor Who we probably wouldn't have been given the slot. There's space for everybody. The great thing is with all these sci-fi series, people are starting to say, 'Hang on, Britain can make fantasy really well'."
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