Suranne Jones - Early Life

Early Life

Suranne Jones was born Sarah Anne Jones in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, on 27 August 1978, the daughter of Chris and Jenny Jones, an engineer and a secretary, respectively. She also has a sibling, an older brother named Gary. Jones was raised a Catholic; her priest suggested to her father she be christened Sarah Anne, instead of Suranne, her great-grandmother's name, as Suranne was not "a proper name". Jones grew up in a house surrounded by two farms and their fields and commented that one of her earliest memories is of "cows looking in the window as we ate our tea". As a child she was talkative, and later recounted that her priest would say "I'm praying you can concentrate just a bit more". Jones suffers from carpophobia (fear of wrists), which she believes possibly developed from viewing imagery of Christ's crucifixion and stigmata as a child. Talking of her childhood, Jones commented that "I think I always wanted to be different and felt very stifled at school". Jones also stated, "I was bullied at school and I let that get hold of me and withdrew into myself - I regret letting that happen". She became a member of the Oldham Theatre Workshop, where she befriended Antony Cotton, who now plays Sean Tully on Coronation Street. She completed a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts, though she felt "that quite the same as drama school".