Sarah was joined by Paddy McGuinness, Jessica Wright and James Argent at the tower
Sarah Jayne Dunn is best known as Mandy Richardson in Hollyoaks, she's been playing the character since 1996, so it's instantly what comes to mind when you think of her.
But, the blonde beauty has managed to carve a career for herself outside of the show, working in theatre and film too. The biggest role she has had to date is sharing the screen with Christian Bale in The Dark Knight.
We caught up with the actress to find out what's going on with her and with the character that we've all come to know and love...
What were you doing at the top of the BT London Tower?
I was team captain to launch the BT Vision Essential Package, and we had a big TV quiz, Paddy McGuinness was the host and there was Adele Silva, a couple of the guys off The Only Way is Essex and it was great fun. As I said, it was to launch the BT Vision Essential Package, which is great to have that now because I don't ever have to miss any of the tele that I love watching.
We've been told that you revealed that your character Mandy from Hollyoaks, is going to be getting back together with Tony. What can you tell us about that?
That's about as much as I can tell you without giving everything away. But they've been on and off for years and they're a great couple and I think that they make a great couple and I think it's such a shame that just as they get happy something horrendous happens again. So there's the possibility that their relationship might be re-kindled so you'll have to watch the show to find out.
You signed a one year contract with Hollyoaks last November, what's happening with this? Has it been renewed?
I actually only signed a six-month contract and I'm back obviously as you can see and I'm back on screen at the moment so. It's always been a great place for me to kind of be. I've always loved the show and I love the character, hence why I've been back so many times. But it also been great for me because I've been able to leave and do other things and be involved in other projects. It's all worked in my favour it's been lovely.
Like you've said, you've been on the show since 1996. Can you ever see yourself completely leaving?
I guess it depends on the writers and what they can do with the character you know, obviously because I've been there a long time and because my character has been through a lot already I guess it's just up to them. I'd love to carry on and I do love it there but equally it's also been nice when I've not been there. I've enjoyed all of the other jobs that I've done and the opportunities that I've had, so again, we'll just have to see what happens.
I was told that you were flying to LA for a secret project, can you tell us anything about this?
(Laughs) I was actually flying to LA for a wedding, and it was my first time over there and it was really, really exciting. Obviously it's a place that a lot of people go over for work and I did meet a few people over there. I think just because it was my first time, I was kind of just getting a feel for the place. It's a huge place and there are so many people out there kind of looking for work. It's an exciting place, I'll give it that, but it's quite overwhelming at the same time.
Do you think you'll go out there for work then?
I don't know, maybe. It's like I said, it's a place where a lot of things do happen, it's obviously the place of a lot of films and I think if you want to make it really big then it's something that you have to do. But thank God, and touch wood I've been really lucky over here and have never stopped working in the UK. So we'll see, I'm not totally ruling out the idea and maybe if I'm not working, I might go over and test the water.
You've got a new film coming out soon, Death, what's this all about?
It's about a family with a secret. Basically they lose a family member and go back to the house where they all grew up and then lots of secrets kind of come out of the woodwork and they find out things about eachother and relationships are made and some are broken and it was a really exciting experience.
It's a small role in the film for me, so I was down in London for a couple of days, but it was working with a director, Martin Gooch, that I've worked with before so that was really nice of him to ask me to come on board. It's exciting, they took it over to Cannes to see how it would do over there. It's just good to be apart of the project and hopefully it will do well later this year.
You've worked across all platforms, you've done TV, film and theatre, which would you say is your favourite?
TV is where my heart is, because it's what I've done most of, it's where I started and how I got into this. Stage was fantastic, it's a totally different experience because you've got your live audience every evening and it's the same performance over and over so it's it's building that kind of stamina to keep the character fresh.
Film's great because you're doing one project and you've got a start, middle and end and you've got a set amount of time to do something. And with TV, it's usually continuous. I don't know, I love them all. I don't want to rule any of them out.
What other things have you got coming up?
Obviously, I'm still on screen and back at Hollyoaks, and then, well it's difficult to kind of say when you're still working because you're committed to something but we'll see. I'd like to do some more theatre, so we'll see what happens with that.
It's such a good job to be apart of (acting), because one minute you can be in something, then your inbetween jobs, audtioning for things then your on something new, exciting project. So you just don't know where else it's going to take you.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies
Sarah Jayne Dunn launches BT Vision Essential – a great value way to ensure you never miss your favourite TV shows. For more information visit www.bt.com/telly
Sarah Jayne Dunn is best known as Mandy Richardson in Hollyoaks, she's been playing the character since 1996, so it's instantly what comes to mind when you think of her.
But, the blonde beauty has managed to carve a career for herself outside of the show, working in theatre and film too. The biggest role she has had to date is sharing the screen with Christian Bale in The Dark Knight.
We caught up with the actress to find out what's going on with her and with the character that we've all come to know and love...
What were you doing at the top of the BT London Tower?
I was team captain to launch the BT Vision Essential Package, and we had a big TV quiz, Paddy McGuinness was the host and there was Adele Silva, a couple of the guys off The Only Way is Essex and it was great fun. As I said, it was to launch the BT Vision Essential Package, which is great to have that now because I don't ever have to miss any of the tele that I love watching.
We've been told that you revealed that your character Mandy from Hollyoaks, is going to be getting back together with Tony. What can you tell us about that?
That's about as much as I can tell you without giving everything away. But they've been on and off for years and they're a great couple and I think that they make a great couple and I think it's such a shame that just as they get happy something horrendous happens again. So there's the possibility that their relationship might be re-kindled so you'll have to watch the show to find out.
You signed a one year contract with Hollyoaks last November, what's happening with this? Has it been renewed?
I actually only signed a six-month contract and I'm back obviously as you can see and I'm back on screen at the moment so. It's always been a great place for me to kind of be. I've always loved the show and I love the character, hence why I've been back so many times. But it also been great for me because I've been able to leave and do other things and be involved in other projects. It's all worked in my favour it's been lovely.
Like you've said, you've been on the show since 1996. Can you ever see yourself completely leaving?
I guess it depends on the writers and what they can do with the character you know, obviously because I've been there a long time and because my character has been through a lot already I guess it's just up to them. I'd love to carry on and I do love it there but equally it's also been nice when I've not been there. I've enjoyed all of the other jobs that I've done and the opportunities that I've had, so again, we'll just have to see what happens.
I was told that you were flying to LA for a secret project, can you tell us anything about this?
(Laughs) I was actually flying to LA for a wedding, and it was my first time over there and it was really, really exciting. Obviously it's a place that a lot of people go over for work and I did meet a few people over there. I think just because it was my first time, I was kind of just getting a feel for the place. It's a huge place and there are so many people out there kind of looking for work. It's an exciting place, I'll give it that, but it's quite overwhelming at the same time.
Do you think you'll go out there for work then?
I don't know, maybe. It's like I said, it's a place where a lot of things do happen, it's obviously the place of a lot of films and I think if you want to make it really big then it's something that you have to do. But thank God, and touch wood I've been really lucky over here and have never stopped working in the UK. So we'll see, I'm not totally ruling out the idea and maybe if I'm not working, I might go over and test the water.
You've got a new film coming out soon, Death, what's this all about?
It's about a family with a secret. Basically they lose a family member and go back to the house where they all grew up and then lots of secrets kind of come out of the woodwork and they find out things about eachother and relationships are made and some are broken and it was a really exciting experience.
It's a small role in the film for me, so I was down in London for a couple of days, but it was working with a director, Martin Gooch, that I've worked with before so that was really nice of him to ask me to come on board. It's exciting, they took it over to Cannes to see how it would do over there. It's just good to be apart of the project and hopefully it will do well later this year.
You've worked across all platforms, you've done TV, film and theatre, which would you say is your favourite?
Tagged in Hollyoaks