Acting
She first acted as a cast member on the BBC Saturday morning children's show On the Waterfront. Critics were pleasantly surprised at her gift for comedy and sending herself up. The Nolan sisters and their music were a running gag on the show, and she was joined by her sisters for a musical performance during at least one episode.
She left the group in 1994 to concentrate on her own acting career, which had begun with her 1993 performance in the stage play The Devil Rides Out.
In 2000 she joined the cast of Channel 4's soap opera Brookside as Diane Murray after being noticed by Paul Marquess whilst starring in the play Blood Brothers. She left in 2002 to play Sheelagh Murphy in ITV's police drama series The Bill. Her character Sheelagh had an affair with Des Taviner; their baby daughter then died and Des, who had killed six fellow officers, was beaten to death in custody. Other traumas included finding out that her son was gay and behind several 'homophobic' attacks. Although Nolan left The Bill in 2005 the door was left open for a return, due to her character's enduring popularity.
In 2006 she took part in Channel 4's series The Games, arriving last in the females category. However, rumours abound that she may have actually come fourth and was only ranked last due to a scoring error. Her stint on the game was to raise money for charity, including Alzheimer's and children's charities. Her latest theatre role will be in the 2009 Manchester Opera House pantomime Cinderella, in which she will play the Fairy Godmother.
In 2007, Nolan starred in the play Mum's the Word, and was lined up to star in the Iceland adverts for the summer with her younger sister Coleen. During summer season she appeared at the Blackpool North Pier Theatre in her own production, Soap Queens (And Kings!).
Nolan is currently starring in Flashdance The Musical opening in Plymouth's Theatre Royal this July, as Hannah Owens alongside Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Noel Sullivan and Bruno Langley.
In January and February 2010, Nolan participated in the British ITV1 celebrity reality television programme Popstar to Operastar. She lost against Darius Danesh in the final show, having been the favourite to win.
Read more about this topic: Bernadette Nolan
Famous quotes containing the word acting:
“It especially helps if you know that we’re all faking our adulthood—even your parents and their parents. Beneath these adult trappings—in our president, in our parents, in you and me—lurk the emotions of a child. If we know that only about ourselves, we become infantile; if we understand that about everybody, then we have nothing to be ashamed of—unless, of course, we go around acting like a child and expecting everyone else to act like grownups.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“It is not enough to ask, ‘Will my act harm other people?’ Even if the answer is No, my act may still be wrong, because of its effects on other people. I should ask, ‘Will my act be one of a set of acts that will together harm other people?’ The answer may be Yes. And the harm to others may be great. If this is so, I may be acting very wrongly, like the Harmless Torturers.”
—Derek Parfit (b. 1943)
“She does not realize that the only difference between us is that she is on one stage and I on another. I feel that I am acting just as much as she is.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)