Anna Friel rules out return in Brookside/Hollyoaks crossover
Anna Friel has ruled out a return as Beth Jordache for the Brookside and Hollyoaks crossover.
Anna Friel has ruled out a return for the Brookside and Hollyoaks crossover.
The 49-year-old actress - who shot to fame playing Beth Jordache in Brookside between 1993 and 1995 - "can't wait" to watch the upcoming special episode, which will air next month as part of Hollyoaks' 30th anniversary celebrations, but confirmed she isn't involved because she has filming commitments overseas.
Anna told RadioTimes.com: "Well, I'm about to fly to Australia for work and I've just finished a new production called The Dream Lands which comes to the BBC in January. It's a dystopian drama set in 2038 and I'm really proud of it!
"So I'm happy to be doing that, but I wish [the Brookside team] luck and I can't wait to watch what they do and see all the old faces."
The news may not surprise many fans because Anna's alter ego was killed off on Brookside, however, her death was off screen and in recent years, Hollyoaks has brought back characters believed to be dead, with Gemma Bissix most recently returning as Clare Devine.
Meanwhile, Anna praised Brookside for being a "great launch pad" and offering her great training in her early career because of the challenging way the soap was filmed.
She said: "It was the best training for a 16-year-old entering the world of television I could ever have had.
"What was different then is that it was a real location and it was a single camera, and very tight scripts.
"Real location and long, long hours, many pages to learn every single night and five-day weeks... if you can do that at 16, well, you're set up for the rest. Here I am, 30 years later.
"It was the best training in the world, and what a great launch pad."
It was recently revealed that Sue Johnston will be reprising her Brookside role as Sheila Grant, with Ricky Tomlinson back as her first husband Bobby Grant and John McArdle to play her second husband Billy Corkhill again.
And it has been revealed that Billy will later appear in more episodes of Hollyoaks as the character heads to the village, but the reasons why have been kept under wraps.
In addition, Paul Usher will be playing Bobby and Sheila's bad-boy son Barry Grant, and Philip Olivier and Suzanne Collins will be back as Tim 'Tinhead' O'Leary and Nikki Shadwick respectively.
