Vicky McClure

Vicky Ann McClure (born 8 May 1983 in Nottingham, England) is a BAFTA-winning actress best known for her work in the films of Shane Meadows. She played the title character's sister Ladine in A Room for Romeo Brass (1999), and featured in Meadows's most successful film to date, This Is England (2006).

Biography

In an April 2007 interview with Time Out, McClure spoke of Meadows approaching her for the role of Ladine while she was in a pub with Andrew Shim. She described the making of the film as "constant laughing and jokes" and said, "We've been majorly involved, which has been fantastic. Even down to things like coming down to see Shane while he was doing the grades and the edit — we've watched so many different versions of the film!"

Much of the film was improvised — "Well, it's all improvised. When we're all having a laugh and pissing about, Shane will be like, 'Right just make each other laugh' and somebody will come out with some bizarre comment to start a conversation and we're all naturally laughing because it's funny. A lot of the time it just worked for a first take."

On how working with Meadows may compare with other directors, McClure said, "I haven't got loads of experience in terms of working with other directors and I've not got bags of films behind me, but I've got a funny feeling that if I continue to work with other people then I'm not going to get this luxury again."

On similarity with her characters, McClure drew parallels: "I think Ladine (her character in A Room for Romeo Brass) and Lol are quite similar in the fact that they don't take any shit, and I don't to a certain extent. All three of us are similar in so many different ways… I think they're both quite similar and I think Shane probably sees some of that in me, which obviously helps with the characters. But I'm ever so nice really!"

She co-starred in the London-based comedy film Filth and Wisdom, the first feature film directed by pop singer Madonna. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2008. She admitted to being slightly star-struck upon first meeting Madonna in an interview with LeftLion where she said "I tried to act as cool as possible but inside I'm like, “Oh my God; there's Madonna!” You can't help it."

She was also featured alongside Kaya Scodelario, Abbey M Butler, Andy Crane and Paul Young in Plan B's music video "She Said".

Vicky reprised the role of Lol for the spin-off TV series This is England '86 commissioned by Channel 4. The series focused upon Lol's character, along with a supporting cast featuring much of the original gang. The events of the series are said to change her character forever and Shane Meadows has said on his official site that it includes some of the most challenging scenes of his career. In 2010, Vicky appeared in a number of promotional short films for the English cosmetics brand Illamasqua.

Vicky won the Best Female Actor RTS Award (Royal Television Society) in 2011 for her role as Lol in This is England '86, and also won the BAFTA for Best Leading Actress in May 2011.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1999	A Room for Romeo Brass	Ladine Brass
2000	Doctors	Kirsty Dunns	TV series (1 episode: "Love Me Tender")
2002	Tough Love	Zoe Love	TV movie
2004	Birth Day	Lucia	short
2005	The Stairwell	Woman	short
2006	This is England	Lol
2008	Filth and Wisdom	Juliette
2009	Enough Rope	Iris	video short
	Cast Offs	Claire	TV series (1 episode: "Carrie")
2010	Five Daughters	Stacy Nicholls	TV series (3 episodes)
	Just Before Dawn	Fay	short
	This is England '86	Lol	BAFTA Award for Best Actress RTS Television Award for Best Actress TV Choice Award for Best Actress
2011	Walk Like a Panther		TV series
	Stolen	DC Manda Healey	TV movie
	Coming Up	Kelly	TV series (1 episode: "Rough Skin")
	The Body Farm	Tess Williams	TV series (1 episode: "Sexual Intentions")
	This Is England '88	Lol	TV series (3 episodes)

External links

• Vicky McClure Official Website
• Vicky McClure on Wikipedia