For young and rising star Niamh Blackshaw, a career in acting is going from strength to strength. After a critically acclaimed tenure as Juliet Nightingale in Hollyoaks, she has since played a key role in Jenna Coleman series The Jetty and has landed a long-term part in Waterloo Road, playing rebellious newcomer Agnes. But it was nearly not to be, with the dancer turned actress nearly giving up on her dream.

Thanks to a close friend, she thankfully changed her mind. ‘I trained as a dancer quite intensely,’ she told Metro in an exclusive interview ahead of Waterloo Road’s comeback. ‘I think when I was eight or nine I did my first professional show and it was the west end tour of Annie. So I started in musical theatre and then I did a couple more regional shows. ‘I then told my mum I didn’t want to dance any more, I wanted to do acting. She was like, “No! We’ve put in all this money and effort and time. You can’t change now!”.

‘And I was like, “it’s just not what I want to do.” So I started taking acting more seriously. ‘I found my first proper agent when I left school. I had, at that time, quit and it took a friend telling me, “I think you’re making a big mistake – you have to try.”. ‘So when I was 17 I went on a hunt until somebody would take me. Luckily somebody did and I’ve just been rolling on that wave ever since. It was a turning moment.’.

Niamh hasn’t looked back since. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. She is grabbing the ‘very different’ role of Agnes with both hands and would love to stay beyond the upcoming series, with plenty to explore in the complex character. ‘Agnes was described to me as a committed evangelical Christian who’s very firm in her beliefs and has a strong moral compass in the service of justice – but also has a rebellious streak and will do what’s necessary to defend her beliefs.’.

What transpires in the series is her falling onto the radar of the corrupting force Schuey. Could this be a relationship that drives Agnes off the rails?. Niamh pondered to me: ‘They begin as strangers, really, because Agnes is new to the school. She knows of Schuey because of everything that’s happened in season 14 and all the drama and how tragic it was. ‘I think she sees potential in him and that he’s not this bad person that everyone expects him to be and wants the best for him and wants to bring out the best in him.

‘They get closer because I think in a lot of ways they are quite similar. They both feel quite lonely and not seen and not supported. It’s nice for them to bond over that.’. So, perhaps it will be the other way round – Agnes could be the making of Schuey!. ‘It surprised me in a lot of ways because I didn’t expect to feel so strange. It’s not real, it’s work, but because these are live sets, not studio sets, you’re literally sat in a classroom.

‘There’s someone pretending to be a teacher and you are in school uniform. For a few weeks there was an adjustment period where I kind of felt I’d moved to a new school and I had to keep reminding myself I’m an adult, I’m not doing my GCSEs, everything is fine. ‘Also the building we’re using used to be a school, so that adds another layer. It just has the energy.’. So what was she like at school, back in the day?.

‘I wasn’t rebellious, I wouldn’t say,’ she told me. ‘I was very head down, just wanting to do well in my exams, that was my goal. I had a lovely friendship group. ‘I’d really struggled in primary school, but high school I found, up until Year 11, to be really lovely, as lovely as school can be! I just really loved learning and I still do. My experiences are quite good for those five years, considering.’.

Of course, the actress is tight-lipped about any outcomes, but is loving her time on the show, whose ensemble cast she feels are deeply supportive of one another. And it’s not just the close knit young actors Niamh is in awe of. ‘The cast who play the teachers were so welcoming. When you join an established show there’s already friends, already connections. But it was so easy to slot right in. Whenever there’s big group scenes, they’re always fun because, genuinely, everyone here is so sound.’.

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