Actor Lynn Roden is no stranger to cameras and the big stage with her long line of roles from Coronation Street to Shameless. At the age of 62, she looks back on her impressive career with Salford Now reporter Roberta McDonagh
From the moment she walked into her children’s theatre group at the age of 11, actor and Salford graduate Lynn Roden knew what she wanted to be.
She joined the theatre group in Stretford because it was where June Ritchie trained and she was already ‘in awe of’ her but her acting life really began at 40.
That is when she went to study media performance for three years at Salford University, where she met Peter Kay and wrote with him.
“The day after I graduated, I got my first job at the BBC and I couldn’t believe it. I was pretty lucky,” she said.
Her first role was with the BBC on 999 where she played Mandy Barton and her most recent role was with BBH on a Ladbrokes advert playing the mum.
“My favourite role would have to be “The Cops”. I was in for a full series and I played Mandy Barton. She used to have fights with the police, her kids were always getting in trouble and her husband was always kicking off and that was brilliant. It was always fun to get on set and have a laugh. It was one of my favourites,” she stated.
Roden has been working within the BBC for years.
She said: “They all treat you with the upmost respect and it’s a gorgeous vibe working within the media because you’re making something and producing something for people to watch and enjoy so you enjoy doing it.”
Before lockdown began, she performed in Tinned Up at Oldham Coliseum with Karen Henthorn, where she received a standing ovation for one of her scenes, which was ‘quite unusual and exceptional’. “I thought it was for her, but it wasn’t, it was for me. I just thought oh my god,” she said.
Lynn would give aspiring actors and actresses the same advice Barbra Knox gave her, which is, “Never ever refuse a part. Even if you think it’s rubbish, you never know who you are going to meet.”
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