I'm glad Ruth has come to an Ender; FREE AT LAST: SCOTS ACTRESS TELLS OF HER SOAP MISERY.
FORMER EastEnder Caroline Paterson has admitted she's glad to see the back of her dreary soap character Ruth Fowler.The Scots actress has revealed she's got her life back after saying: "Good riddance, Ruth."
Caroline's first role after leaving the BBC soap is a cameo role in Taggart, in which she plays a mother who has lost her 15-year-old daughter to drugs.
But 33-year-old Caroline admits even a small part in Taggart has proved more uplifting than playing downtrodden, depressed Ruth.
She said: "I love my new character Rosie because she's everything Ruth wasn't.
"She's feisty, aggressive, stands up for herself and is strong.
"It's great to be creative. In EastEnders, you went in, did it in one take and that was that. Then you had another 10 scenes to shoot.
"When I got home I was talked out. I didn't want to talk again.
"With Taggart, I'm being chased by police. It is fabulous going to different places and having just one camera.
"You can even talk to other people in the crew. There's time to sit around and wait. It's bliss."
The four and a half years of disciplined routine on the soap took its toll and Caroline also revealed how she feels guilty for not quitting the soap when she had son Louis, now 18 months old.
She said: "The pressure is off. I have a life these days.
"EastEnders wasn't just about acting in a soap opera. You had to deal with the media and your social life was non-existent because you were so busy.
"I left because of my son. He made me realise the type of life I was leading. I felt guilty about leaving Louis after three months to go back to work."
Caroline and Italian boyfriend Claudio Carnovale still live in London, but next year the actress plans to return to Glasgow.
She will direct a play for Rain Dog, the Glasgow theatre company she founded in the early 90s but won't say much more about it.
Caroline's Taggart, called For Their Sins, will be screened in September.
She added: "Taggart is such a big part of Scotland, so when they approached me I didn't hesitate.
"I'm glad I've got this under my belt. Now it's just a question of sitting back and asking, 'What would I like to do next?'"
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Author: | Fulton, Rick |
| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | May 7, 1999 |
| Words: | 389 |
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