During Julie Hesmondhalgh’s 16 happy years as one of the best-loved characters on Coronation Street, only one thing was missing: the ambition to try something new.
She used to joke she would die playing Hayley Cropper as she became part of the furniture on set and part of the family for viewers across the country.
But though she enjoyed this comfortable stability she found that she was losing her will to try other roles.
