‘I ache whenever I leave Wales’

May 16 2008 by Karen Price, Western Mail

YOU would never guess that Joanna Page is under the weather. The bubbly actress, who captured the hearts of the nation playing ditzy Barry girl Stacey, is talking 19 to the dozen.

But she admits that just a day earlier she had been sent home from rehearsals early.

“I’ve got the blinking flu,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve just taken some Sudofen though so I’m feeling much better.”

It’s just as well because when we chat it’s days before the new West End play she’s starring in – Fat Pig – is due to open for previews.

“We move to the actual theatre today to check things like the lighting,” says the Swansea-born actress. “All of a sudden it’s hit home – oh my God, we have our first performance on Friday. It’s terrifying.”

However, Page, who is enjoying huge success thanks to her role in the Bafta Award-winning BBC3 sitcom Gavin and Stacey, says she’s looking forward to kitting out her dressing room at the Trafalgar Studios – after all, it will effectively be her “home” for the next few months.

“I will take a photo of me and James (her actor husband James Thornton), one of me and my dog Daisy, a blow-up mattress for me to sleep on, a mini fridge for Champagne and beers and the odd sandwich, and some fairy lights to brighten it up and make it cosy.”

While the 31-year-old actress may come across just like loveable newly-wed Stacey – and she admits she is just like her – audiences will see a whole new side to her in Fat Pig.

For she will lose her Welsh lilt in favour of a transatlantic drawl and instead of the girlie dresses she will be donning smart business suits to play an accounts manager.

“I have this fantastic really tight pencil skirt from Zara and really high heels,” says Page, who you can imagine enjoying a glass of wine with in your local.

“I’ve been taking the shoes home though and wearing them around the house. I have to be quite strident on stage but I’m not very good in high heels.”

Fat Pig tells the story of Tom (played by Robert Webb, from comedy duo Mitchell and Webb) who feels an instant connection when he meets Helen (Ella Smith), who happens to be plus-sized.

Page, who as office manager Jeannie watches their relationship unfold, says she loves playing a character who’s so removed from how she is in real life.

“Jeannie’s the complete opposite of me and Stacey, who I am really like,” she says.

“She’s an American who’s very frustrated because she can’t get a straight answer regarding her relationship – she’s been messed around constantly by a man and she’s had enough of it.

“It’s great to spend the whole of the play serious until she explodes.

“It’s interesting to see how grown up and professional I become as this character.”

And she says she can’t wait for her husband, who is currently appearing in the BBC police drama Holby Blue, to see her as Jeannie, who isn’t afraid to show her temper.

“My husband thinks I’m incredibly feisty, very spirited and Welsh, whereas he’s laid back and Northern,” says Page, who had to strip to play porn film stand-in Judy in the hit 2003 film Love Actually.

“When he comes to see me in the play he will say ‘Oh yes, I have seen that feistiness before – in our living room!’”

But while she may have Jeannie’s feistiness, she reveals that she’s much more like Stacey in real life.

“I run around at home in tracksuits and I’m very childish,” she laughs.

Also appearing in the play is My Family actor Kris Marshall.

The 35-year-old, who also appears in the BT adverts, was unable to attend the first day of rehearsals after he was hit by a car during a night out in Bristol.

After a short stay in hospital, he has now recovered and has been reunited with the rest of the cast.

“Kris is back now and much better,” says Page. “It’s really lovely working with him. When he came back we were like, ‘Are you alright?’ as he was badly bruised and gets quite exhausted.

“His balance has gone a little and one day he was standing on top of a sofa acting and he just fell. But when he came back he had already learned all his lines and was better than the rest of us so I was really ashamed about that.”

Many people who buy tickets to see Fat Pig will no doubt be huge fans of Gavin And Stacey, in which Page plays the newlywed Barry girl who pines for her family in Wales after marrying Essex boy Gavin.

Among those who will definitely be watching is fellow Welsh actress and Gavin And Stacey co-creator Ruth Jones,

“I don’t want to know when she’s coming to see me as I’ll get too nervous.”

Page appears amazed by the level of fame she’s now achieved thanks to Stacey and she admits she now gets stopped all the time.

“I was in Topshop the other day and taking about 20 items into the changing room when this massive fella took the items off me and started counting them and asking me questions about them. He then said, ‘I have one more question to ask you – are you going to make a third series?’”

Ah yes, that’s the question on everyone’s lips right now. While this has not yet been confirmed, there will definitely be a Christmas special and Page will start filming after the play comes to an end in September.

“It will be really exciting doing a Christmas special and finding out who Gavin and Stacey have dinner with.”

So what would she like for Stacey’s future?

“I have always said I would like Stacey to have a dog,” she laughs. “I don’t mind if she gets pregnant or not but would love her to have a little dog to carry around with her. I can’t imagine Stacey growing up and having a baby as she’s really young and childish.”

Page, who now lives in London, will be taking time out from the play on June 22 to return to Swansea to take part in Race For Life, the 5km women’s run to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

She’s looking forward to raising as much money as she can – and seeing her friends and family again. “We come home as often as we can. Whenever I’m back in Wales I feel happy and settled – I’m home. When I drive out of Wales I often get an awful ache in my stomach. There’s something strange about Wales. You always want to go back there.”

It seems that Page is more like Stacey than even she admits.

Fat Pig opens for previews at Trafalgar Studios, London, today. For details, call the box office on 0870 060 6632