Velma, my Siberian husky, loves people. I’m her PA, actually. I’m trying to train my friends to say hello to me before her, but I’m fighting a losing battle. I can’t believe I wasted so much of my life not having a dog.
My dad was an engineer and my mum was a botanist and biochemist. I wasn’t academic. When my maths teacher asked us to put triangles and squares into sets, I thought, why do they have to be in sets? Why can’t they just be them?
My first play at school was Ernie’s Incredible Hallucinations. I had a small part as a librarian. When I said one of my lines everyone laughed. I thought, I could do with more of this. I’ve been chasing approval ever since.
As scientists, my parents didn’t necessarily know that studying arts is clever. But once I got a place at drama school they were incredibly supportive and focused. The day before I had to audition for a grant, they practised the drive to make sure I got there on time.
My sister died in 2008 and my brother died in 2020. I realised that whatever I did and however hard I tried to make my parents proud I couldn’t make them feel better about it. There’s disappointment with that, but also relief. I can’t control it, so I have to let it go.
Mum lived on her own during the pandemic, so we’d both watch The Chase and I’d ring her afterwards to talk about it. Then I got the chance to go on and I was starstruck by Bradley Walsh. My Facebook cover photo is me with the Chasers, Mark Labbett and Anne Hegerty.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office affected people because they watched their worst nightmare unfold. I spoke to a subpostmaster whose children used to ask when he was going to jail. There’s been too many lies and people want to not feel helpless any more.
Accents are like scales on the piano. You do them slowly and hopefully they join up. A good dialect coach will tell you exactly where your tongue is meant to be, what you’ve missed, what to do more of. I learn the lines, do the psychological work, then the accent work separately.
Fear motivates me. I’m frightened of letting people down. Sometimes that can be inhibiting, but it’s also a strong signal to stretch yourself. When I played Rosemary West, I wanted to handle that the best way I could. I spoke to a lot of people about her.
It’s nice to contribute to something that has got everyone talking, but there needs to be proper accountability and proper compensation. The government knew about the injustice for a long time and what’s scaring them now is they’re having an election and people are angry. I expect very little from them and I receive it in abundance.
I wouldn’t describe my house as untidy, but I would say decisions are being made in real time. There’s stuff all over the place, boxes on the floor. I’m guilty of thinking things are still useful, like the VHS recorder that isn’t compatible with the telly.
The blessing and the curse of acting is that everyone you play becomes part of your psyche. I always refer to the character I’m playing in the third person, so you can talk about them objectively. That way, it never feels personal.
I’ve always regretted not going to Live Aid in 1985. A school friend offered me tickets and I said, “Nah, it’s all right.” I could have seen Queen being amazing, but instead I had to watch it on TV.
Monica Dolan can currently be seen in cinemas in the film Typist Artist Pirate King and in the four-part drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office for ITV/ITVX
