Sheridan Smith has recalled the traumatic childhood memory that helped her get into character for her new real-life drama and opened up about her sobriety.
Speaking in a new interview, the actress, 44, reflected on how her role in I Fought the Law, which she described as ‘the hardest job I have done’ left her ‘bawling her eyes out’ and revealed that she is now ‘sober for real.’
The four-part series follows the real lift story of Ann Ming who campaigned for 15 years to bring her daughter’s murderer to justice. She got the UK’s 800-year-old ‘double jeopardy’ law overturned following the murder of her daughter Julie Hogg.
Sheridan, who has taken on the role of Ann, admitted that she finds her job easiest when she is acting out ‘someone’s pain’ and draws on her own for difficult scenes.
She told The Guardian: ‘I’d remember the night my brother died and my mum screaming so I’d tap into that. Now, as a mum, I imagine what if something happened to your child.’
Her brother Julian passed away from cancer at the age of 18 when Sheridan was just eight-years-old.
Sheridan Smith has recalled the traumatic childhood memory that helped her get into character for her upcoming real-life drama and opened up about her sobriety
The actress, 44, reflected on how her role in I Fought the Law, which she described as ‘the hardest job I have done’ and revealed that she is now ‘sober for real’
Sheridan went on to admit that I Fought the Law ‘took it out of her’ and the experience will make her think twice about what jobs she takes in the future.
She explained: ‘I have to always remember that the real-life characters have actually gone through this but I think a little bit of each character stays in me.’
In 2016, the actress faced a highly publicised breakdown while starring in the West End production of Funny Girl.
Stress, exhaustion and her father’s cancer diagnosis compounded her mental health issues, forcing her to take a hiatus from the show.
Last year, in the play Opening Night in London’s West End, which she described as ‘close to the bone’, Sheridan played an actor struggling through a production while drunk.
It highlighted the parallels between her own struggles and those of her character, a functioning alcoholic actress unraveling under pressure.
Sheridan – who has a five-year-old son with former partner Jamie Horn – has now vowed to be more wary of such difficult roles in the future.
She said: ‘I was always going back and forth between drinking and sobriety. But this time I feel it’s for real.’
She told The Guardian: ‘I’d remember the night my brother died and my mum screaming so I’d tap into that. Now, as a mum, I imagine what if something happened to your child’
Her brother Julian (pictured) passed away from cancer at the age of 18 when Sheridan was just eight-years-old
I Fought the Law follows Ann Ming who’s daughter Julie was murdered by William ‘Billy’ Dunlop, but jurors failed to find him guilty – twice.
This meant that even when Billy confessed, he could not be trialed again, in accordance with the law at the time.
However, after almost 17 years of campaigning with her husband Charles, who died in 2013, Ann got this law amended, and Billy is currently serving a life sentence.
Julie, who was a mother to three-year-old, Kevin, and a wife to Andrew, was only 22 when she died.
Tragically, Ann found Julie’s body concealed in the bathroom of her terraced house in January 1990, 80 days after it was hidden there by Billy.
This was in spite of extensive searches of the property by police forensics teams in the days after her disappearance, who failed to detect her body.
Her daughter’s killer had strangled and then sexually mutilated Julie, before hiding her body under the bath in her own house.
Ann, now in her late 70s, acted as a consultant throughout the production process of I Fought The Law.
Sheridan – who has a five-year-old son with former partner Jamie Horn – has now vowed to be more wary of such difficult roles in the future (pictured in 2024)
I Fought the Law follows Ann Ming who’s daughter Julie (pictured) was murdered by William ‘Billy’ Dunlop, but jurors failed to find him guilty – twice
She said: ‘My daughter’s killer was wrongfully acquitted, and a number of years later confessed to her murder, for which he could only be prosecuted for perjury due to the 800-year-old Double Jeopardy Law.
‘I wasn’t going to let this stand in my way of getting justice for Julie. I’m overwhelmed that Sheridan Smith will be playing me.
‘Having such an iconic and talented actress portray me is truly wonderful.’
Speaking about the role, Sheridan said: ‘I am so honoured to have been asked to play the role of Ann Ming, a mother so determined to fight for justice for her murdered daughter that she spent 15 years campaigning for the Double Jeopardy Law to be changed.’
She added: ‘She is a truly courageous and remarkable woman to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude.’
