Hi Siobhan! The last time we spoke, you'd just had your audition for Ghost and you had your fingers very tightly crossed...
Yeah! I wasn't quite sure whether it was going to go ahead, and it all did.
So the last few months have been very busy for you.
It's been incredible - obviously super, super busy, extremely exciting, just intense. The rehearsal process - I've never experienced anything like it, it was amazing - hard work, but really rewarding, especially working with Matthew Warchus, because he's just the most awesome director. The whole thing has been a bit of a whirlwind. It's settled down a little bit now, a couple of months in, and it's still as fun as it was on day one, I have to say. I have experienced in previous shows you get a couple of months into it and it's becoming a little bit too familiar and you have to find fresh ways to approach things, but with this, genuinely, it's just such a beautiful story and such amazing actors.
I take it you and Mark Evans, currently playing Sam, get on really well?
I adore him. Like, I absolutely adore him. We get on so well. We still laugh out loud at the side of the stage. He's just amazing. I've never worked opposite somebody who I've got on with so well, so it's really lovely, and so important for the role as well.
Had you seen the show when Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy opened in it?
Yes, I fell in love with it. The moment my agent asked me if I wanted to audition for it, I went straight to the Piccadilly Theatre, a matinee, I went straight in and loved it. Within the first ten minutes I knew I had to be in this show. I had my sights set up on it.
Caissie has very big shoes for you to fill, though - did you feel pressure with that?
Oh my God, yes, and I still do, every time I walk out on to that stage! I go out and think, "I shouldn't be here, this is somebody else's role"! I think it's always difficult when you take over from somebody, especially a phenomenal actress like Caissie. There are so many things that go with that - especially as Mark and I joined a company that had been going for a year, we were the only two newbies, so that was really hard. Both Richard and Caissie set such an amazing standard.
You've been out to New York to see them both for their Broadway opening, haven't you?
Yes, I went out to New York, and managed to catch up with them at the theatre. It was so lovely to see them - I know Richard from before, I only met Caissie through this job, and it was really nice to see her settling in to the theatre with another company, and we did have a little chinwag, which was really nice. She's a lovely person.
And you've been having meetings in LA - what's in the pipeline? I know you told me before that you'd like to resume your recording career...
It'd be acting and singing, and I'm looking at going out there next year. I've always wanted to live in LA, I was going to go out there after Legally Blonde, but then I had the offer of this job. There are a couple of people who've expressed interest in representing me, and I just think it's the right time - this is the ultimate role so I'd be leaving the West End on a high.
Siobhan Dillon stars in Ghost at the Piccadilly Theatre.
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