‘I've conquered some fears’ - Sheridan Smith reveals why The Castaways is ‘so different’ to anything she has done before

Virgin Radio

18 Dec 2023, 10:49

Sheridan Smith’s brand new drama premieres on Boxing Day, and she visited Virgin Radio to talk all about it.

Joining the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch, the actress and singer spoke about starring as Lori in new Paramount+ series The Castaways.

The narrative sees sisters Lori and Erin (Céline Buckens) embark on the holiday of a lifetime in Fiji. After a huge fight, however, Erin never boards the island-hopping flight to their resort without her sibling, but the plane never arrives at its destination. Erin then undertakes a perilous mission to uncover the truth of the crash, while Lori struggles for survival among her fellow castaways.

Regarding the show, which is adapted from the Sunday Times bestselling novel by Lucy Clarke, Sheridan told Chris: “It's basically the two sisters going on these two different journeys, and I end up on this castaway island and go from this wallflower to this warrior over five episodes.” 

She continued: “I can't swim. I'm scared of heights. I'm scared of spiders. I'm scared of everything. And I took this job. I took it on one episode. I'd read one episode, which was the plane crash, and I thought ‘I can deal with that’. Then suddenly, I'm in the water for four episodes… and I can't swim. And also jumping off cliffs. But I've conquered some fears! I'm pleased I did it. It’s really action-packed and so different from anything I've done before.” 

Adding that “there were scorpions” too, Sheridan said: “It was like being on I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!. Well, I don't know. I would never do that, [it’s] my idea of hell, but it was not far off that.

“The worst thing for me was I couldn't go underwater without holding my nose. So I had to have loads of lessons with all the stunt team, because I spend most of my time in the water, diving. At one point I open my eyes and scream underwater. I conquered a few fears, which is good.”

Speaking more about the new five-part drama, the The Royle Family and Gavin & Stacey star said: “There's so many twists and turns, and then also once I’m on the island, the survivors of the plane crash, there's all kinds of suspicions going on. My character is immediately suspicious of people.” 

The Castaways premieres on Paramount+ on Boxing Day.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.