Hesmondhalgh plays Suzanne Sercombe in the new ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and has compared the series to the soap that made her name. <\/p>
Julie Hesmondhalgh has opened up about how she got ready for her role in Mr Bates vs The Post Office<\/a>, and how her time on Coronation Street<\/a> played a key part in the preparation.<\/p>\n Hesmondhalgh portrays real-life Suzanne Sercombe, the partner of Alan Bates (Toby Jones<\/a>), in the upcoming drama series.<\/p>\n Bates is a former subpostmaster who successfully took the Post Office to the High Court after hundreds of his colleagues were wrongly accused<\/a> of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In preparation for her role, Hesmondhalgh met with Sercombe, whom she was able to spend an afternoon with.<\/p>\n \u201cI got a little bit of a sense of who she was,\u201d she explained, \u201cand her background and her life and relationship with Alan, and what they\u2019ve been through.\u201d<\/p> Speaking about her role in the new drama, Hesmondhalgh revealed portraying Sercombe was one of \u201cthe most satisfying jobs\u201d she has done, due to her being able to tell stories she \u201creally believe[s] in\u201d.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI knew about the Post Office scandal and was incredibly interested in it. And to play a real person? I mean, it\u2019s everything that I would want from my career, actually.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most satisfying jobs that I\u2019ve done in my life have been telling stories that I really believe in, and that I feel shift people\u2019s perceptions about something or bring something to the forefront of people\u2019s minds in ways they hadn\u2019t considered before.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m absolutely passionate about drama being able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Hesmondhalgh, who appeared in Coronation Street between 1998 and 2014, noted how a programme can have \u201csuch a far-reaching impact\u201d when talking about an issue \u2013 something she realised when she was a part of the soap.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cThat\u2019s probably in no small part because of being in Coronation Street for so many years and seeing hearts and minds change, witnessing it for myself, how that programme has such a far-reaching impact when it talks about an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Hesmondhalgh explained that she \u201creally jumped at the chance to tell this story\u201d as she felt \u201creally passionately about it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this world where we can feel very powerless sometimes, it\u2019s a really great message to be telling people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div> \n