Sue Johnston has no plans to retire
Sue Johnston has no plans to retire at the age of 82 and will keep working while she can still remember her lines.
Sue Johnston has no plans to retire.
The Ann Droid actress may get "more tired" these days at the age of 82, but she insisted she doesn't need to slow down and she hopes she's still able to work for many years to come.
She told the Sunday Mirror newspaper of retirement: "No, don't even mention the word, please! Do I feel my age? Oh in the mornings, yes. I do. If you could see me very early in the morning you would say 'oh yes, you can tell she's very nearly 83!'
"But I have a zest for life, I have an energy. I get more tired now, age does that to you, but I don't think because I'm in my 80s that I should be slowing down.
"I sometimes want to shout at people in Sainsbury's 'get your shoulders back, let's go'!
"Age is funny. You can give in to old age, you can kind of accept it and you shouldn't. It starts with posture. As soon as you stick your shoulders back and look at the world, you feel 100 times better. Does that sound pompous?
"I come from a long line of well-lived people. I have an aunt who is 98, and another who is 94. Hopefully it's a genetic thing and I'll be around for a while! I just feel lucky I have a brain that's still active."
The Royle Family star is proud she's still able to learn lines and will continue to accept work for as long as she has no struggles with scripts.
She said: "I can remember I did a Play For Today for Channel 5 with Paul Copley last year.
"It was just the two of us in it, talking, talking, talking. At the end of it, we both went 'Yipeee, we've not got Dementia'. The lines, and remembering them like you need to as you get older, that's always the biggest worry.
"Somehow or another I manage to do them still. It's part of the brain that's trained I suppose. I mean, I can't remember people's names and I walk into a room and have no idea why I am there, but I can learn lines!"
Sue was left devastated when her Royle Family on-screen daughter Caroline Aherne - who also co-wrote the show - died of cancer in 2016, and she still talks to a photo of her late pal every day.
She said: "Everything about that show I adored, it was like it was yesterday.
"I've got photographs on the wall. I've actually got one of Caroline at the bottom of my stairs. I make sure I say good morning to her every day. I miss her incredibly.
"It's very hard, but it was a joy of a job. People still stop me now to tell me about their favourite moment. They always talk about the pleasure it brought them.
"Now youngsters are watching it, but I can't believe it is 30 years since they started writing it. I'm very proud of the Royle Family."
