One 'Ellen' of a girl
She's young, beautiful and a talented pianist. But the new accompanist of Gwili male voice choir is no pushover according to actress Sara Lloyd Gregory, who plays the part of Ellen Wynne in S4C's award-winning drama series Con Passionate.
"She's quite a drama queen. When she turns up to the first rehearsal in her red MG convertible she turns a few heads," explains 22 year-old Sara, who recently appeared in the BBC's adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbevilles and who is currently playing Juliet in Wales Theatre Company's production of Romeo and Juliet alongside former EastEnder, Jack Ryder.
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"She's a feisty and abrupt character, and manages to upset people from the outset. She likes to have everything just so and insists on everyone spelling her name correctly – Ellen Wynne with two 'l's and two 'n's!"
Ellen joins the choir following Brian's (Phylip Hughes) retirement as accompanist. But she is already acquainted with one choir member, Irfon. This is sure to create some tension between her and the choir's conductor Davina (Shân Cothi).
"Ellen doesn't like Davina because she's Irfon's girlfriend," remarks Sara. "She's obviously very fond of him because he's quite a charmer. She's determined to get to know him better, come what may."
Although Sara has acted with many of the cast members on productions such as the BBC's Belonging and Y Pris on S4C, she admits to feeling nervous on her first day on set.
"I was very nervous in my first rehearsal, mainly because I hadn't played the piano for many years. I used to have lessons when I was younger but I stopped to concentrate on the guitar," explains Sara, who's originally from Ammanford.
"I had a few lessons to refresh my memory before filming started, but the camera focused more on the movement of my fingers rather than the crash-notes I was playing. Thankfully, the correct soundtrack was added when they edited the programmes!"
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A Chat with the Cast
Interviews with Steffan Rhodri, Shân Cothi, Aneirin Hughes and Ruth Jones and information about the series.
Download Sgrîn Autumn 2008 for more information about Con Passionate
Sgrîn website
