Brian Beacom

JACQUELINE Leonard looks to be one those actresses who breezes in and out of acting work, with less effort than it takes to buy a pair of shoes.

Over the years she’s starred in all the major soaps except Emmerdale and in several major theatre productions.

And now the lady whose early years were spent in Stirlingshire is set to return to River City for a second stint, with her character Lydia about to wreak havoc.

But Jacqueline reveals she never set out to enter acting in the first place.

And when she did determine to make it her career, it demanded a massive effort.

“I was a 16 year-old at art college when I went down to visit a friend in London, who was studying drama.

“Acting was never in my life before that. I went to a little school in Bonnybridge, so drama didn’t exist.

“But I went to see a few shows my friend was in and that was it, I was hooked.”

Jacqueline says she was lured into acting after seeing a Chekhov play. Really?

Would the terminal tedium of the Russian’s writing not make you wish to do anything but?

“Well, it wasn’t just Chekhov’s The Three Sisters that pulled me in,” she says, grinning.

“I saw other plays as well. And so when I went home I booked myself into a drama lesson.”

The teenager paid for her own drama lessons.

“I worked in a restaurant at night washing dishes to pay for them. And three months later my drama teacher suggested I apply to drama college.

“I was still too young at the time but I applied anyway and got offered places in a few, including RADA and Lamda.”

The London Academy of Dramatic Arts held a place for her.

“So I did my A levels in a year and managed to get a grant to go to drama college.”

Jacqueline’s parents were taken aback by their daughter’s decision.

“My mum and dad were normal working people. When I told my father I was going to drama college he said ‘What?’

“And then when I did go there and found I had to pretend to be a tree I thought ‘My father was right. I’m in completely the wrong place’.”

Yet, she came to realise playing at trees and other non-living creatures was just a part of acting training and loved it.”

Jacqueline, who lives in Lytham St Anne’s and is married with a teenage daughter, worked continuously on British television since the early nineties.

She was in Peak Practice for four series’, played Lorraine Wicks in Eastenders for three years and went on to star in Doctors.

Along the way, Jacqueline also appeared in Holby City and the Bill before joining River City in 2007.

“One of the reasons I came out of River City was my daughter was nine/ten and I felt I needed to be closer to her.

“I still worked, and did Coronation Street for a while. And some theatre which was great. There was a little bit of travelling but not too much.

“Now, my daughter is a teenager and I was thrilled to be asked back to River City.”

Fans won’t expect Lydia to simply sit and sip tea in the Oyster Café.

“The first eight weeks I’ve been back, it’s been a little bit low-key,” she says, teasingly,

“But she’s coming in under the radar. That said, we will get to see the impact she has on the Murdoch family.”

We know that gangster Lenny still loves Lydia, but hates her almost as much.

Like a siren she drags him to the rocks continually.

We learn the real reason Lydia has returned is to lure Amber and Charlotte away to a new life in Spain.

However, Amber’s adamant they’re going nowhere.

Ah, the drama and intrigue of soap television. But what is there about the actress that has seen so many producers hire her?

“I don’t think I’m the best person to answer that,” she says in modest voice.”

Clearly, she is always a believable character. But also a hard grafter.

“When I was in Eastenders we had a lot of well-known theatricals come in and their eyes were soon opened wide because they didn’t realise how hard and fast we worked.

“There was no time for asking ‘What’s my motivation?’ It was all about getting there and getting on with it.”

Jacqueline is delighted to be back in Scotland.

“I had all my young life in Scotland. It was only when my mum died and my sister moved south that my connection to Scotland changed.

Jacqueline lived in Scotland until her parents split up and she lived with her dad and his new partner in England. She lost contact with her mum but mother and daughter were reconciled.

Indeed, Jacqueline looked after her mother in the final years of her life.

“My mum had always said she wanted me to come back to Scotland.

“It was only after I landed River City she died on me. That’s the irony of it all.”

*River City, BBC1 Scotland, Tuesday at 8pm.