Elizabeth Tan
Elizabeth Tan is set to be one of the major new characters in the new season of Waterloo Road as she takes on the role of Princess Windsor.
We caught up with her to chat about the new series, the character of Princess and what it was like joining this hit show.
- Waterloo Road is back on our TV screens next week so what can we expect from the new series of the show?
I think there is going to be ever more drama; series eight finished with quite a lot of drama as we lost one of the most popular characters in the show. In the new series, we have quite a lot of new character arriving.
My character Princess is married to George; who we saw in series eight. We are going are also going to meet new students and new teachers. So there is going to be lots going on.
- You are set to play Princess Windsor, a character we were introduced to briefly at the end of last series, so what was it about this character that made you want to get involved in the show?
I really liked Princess because she was one of those unique characters that has quite a range; for an actor that is a very useful thing. She is a character that is quite glamorous - I did get to wear a lot of wonderful clothes.
(Laughs) It would be very shallow to say that that was what drew me to the character; however, they did promise me that there would be a lot of cool outfits, which I have been really enjoying. She is also a really nice person as she is very helpful, and she has a good heart.
She comes in and forms relationships with the students and the teachers and really does get quite close to them.
On the other side, she is still her own woman; you will be glad to know there at FemaleFirst that she is her own woman, and she stands up for her own rights. She is quite feisty, and is ready to stand up and defend her own beliefs.
- And how are we going to see the character develop throughout the series - especially the relationship with her husband George?
She arrives in series eight as George’s wife, and they have come to set up their lives in the UK. George ends up teaching Mandarin at Waterloo Road, and then they end up rolling out the course to the whole local area.
So George is really struggling and is very frustrated that he ends up forcing Princess to come on board and be his assistant teacher for these Mandarin classes.
As he gets deeper and deeper into trouble, Princes is given more and more of the work, and she starts to get extremely frustrated with that. So they start to have quite a lot of arguments.
George is extremely stubborn and he is quite dry and arrogant, while she is also one of those people who can stand up for herself, and they end up having quite a lot of very colourful fights; some at the school as well.
They are quite lively and inventive fights. As things get worse and their marriage is being tested, Princess finds that she is doing more of the work and getting more involved with staff and the students as well. This results in things getting very very heated. You will see some major blowups and drama.
- George is played by Angus Deayton, so how have you found working with him?
He is absolutely wonderful. That first scene where we are being lovely dovey and talking about our relationship and new start, and we exchange a few kisses I did that about forty-five minutes after meeting Angus for the first time.
I had never met him before in my life, and so we had to just quickly run the lines with the director, and then we were in the car shooting the scene.
It was really wonderful that we had such great chemistry, and we really got on very well right from the beginning. Angus is wonderful to work with and is very funny; and you will be seeing a lot of funny scenes.
- Waterloo Road is a well-established TV series and there are a lot of actors who have been with the show for a long time, so how did you find stepping on to the set?
I found everybody to be extremely welcoming and very generous. When I first arrived Rebecca Craven, and Abby Mavers took me for a tour around the school; Tommy Knight and Shane O’Meara came along as well.
They gave me this grand tour around the school, and then we went and had lunch together. Everybody was extremely helpful. It was like starting a new school as there were so many people to meet; it really is a huge cast. It really is like starting a new school; I really did think of it that way. I have really loved getting to know them all; they are fabulous.
- Throughout your career, you have worked in TV, film and theatre, so how do the three mediums compare? Is there are particular favourite for yourself?
I have enjoyed working in all of those three mediums. I started off in theatre, and I do think that theatre is truly the actor’s medium. Artistically, and creatively you have quite a lot more control over what you performance end up being on stage.
On screen you are more at the mercy of the editors and the directors who do the final cut; even the producers have a say in that. It is more of a joint effort in terms of that post-production and creating what you see on screen.
In theatre, it is a collaborative process, and you have a long rehearsal period where you do have a lot more time developing the character in a lot of depth.
What you see on stage may change every evening, and, as an actor, that is incredibly fulfilling. I do miss doing theatre, and, I guess, that that is where my passion for acting started. But I am really enjoying all of this wonderful screen stuff as well; I have to say that I love both now.
- You have had a whole host of TV projects in recent years so is there where you intend to stay for a while, or is perhaps film something that you would like to get into more?
Absolutely. I love TV as a medium, but I really would love the chance to do a little bit more film; that is definitely on the cards.
Even if it was a case of having to go to the States of to Asia to do a film project, I think that I might be open to that if it was an interesting project and character to play.
- You have talked about your love for theatre, and that was where you kicked off your career, but how much did that prepare you for making the move into TV and film?
That is a very good question. At the end of the day, as an actor you are trying to tell a story and the more genuine and believable your performance is the more moved the audience will be. I think if people really do believe that you are that person, and that you are going through that crisis, then they are more moved by it.
It is quite compelling work when you have gone from theatre, where you have a big auditorium, and the performances are much bigger, to something that is a lot more intimate on screen.
For some theatre actors, they are told to be smaller for the screen but, at the end of the day, it is about authenticity and speaking the truth in each moment when you are performing.
My theatre background definitely did prepare me for that because I played a lots of very interesting roles. For screen, there is just a greater intimacy in your performance; I wouldn’t say it is a smaller performance it is just more intimate. I do think that that collaborative process is very useful because your preparation is so good in theatre because you have the time.
The rehearsal time that you would have in the theatre I do at home on my own when I am doing TV and film work. That process is still very much in me.
- It is interesting because when I talk to other actors who have worked the different mediums, they do say that TV is a more pressured environment because of the lack of time you have to work on the character if you are doing a series of a soap. Do you find TV to be a pressured situation? Do you like working like that?
It is definitely, and you do have less time. I do enjoy it. When I was working on Coronation Street, I remember having to go back to my hotel and learn twenty five pages; I would have wrapped quite late, and then I had to learn those lines.
You don’t only have to learn the lines, but you also have to have an understanding of what is happening in those scenes and make choices about your performance. It can be very stressful if you are doing that every night.
So, I would that it is more pressurised in that sense. But once you get used to it the line learning becomes easier, and you do tend to go with the flow.
- Finally, what is next for you?
I have wrapped on Waterloo Road, and so I am doing some other projects already. I can’t go into two much detail about those projects but there are a couple of film projects on the horizon.