The cast of Waterloo Road have opened up about some of the wild pranks they played on set.
The high school-based BBC programme is returning for its 14th series, and it’s filled with several major changes. With a brand-new school and a completely different headmaster, fans are in for a dramatic new series.
But one thing that never changes is the cheeky cast antics that goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. In an exclusive interview with Daily Star, the cast have shared some of their hilarious pranks that they played on each other on set.
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Arguably, one of the biggest pranksters is Geordie actor James Baxter, who portrays department head Joe Casey. Liam Scholes shared some of the cheeky jokes his co-star performed in his dressing room.
(Image: PA)
He told us: “James used to put a cardboard cut-out of himself [in your room] and then you open your dressing room and he’s there. First thing in the morning and you’re getting the crust out of your eye and then you see him there and he’s in some weird costume.
“There was one with a cardboard cutout of James Baxter on Kim Campbell’s body, that was the first one wasn’t it. And you’d just walk into your dressing room and it’d be behind the door.”
Another mischievous actor is former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas who often left the cast in stitches. Tillie Amartey – who plays Stacey Neville – recalled: Adam Thomas was another prankster.
(Image: BBC/Wall to Wall/Warner Brothers TV Production Services Ltd)
“You hear him before you see him and he’s got one of the most infectious laughs ever so you hear him coming up the corridor before he walked on set.” Meanwhile, in the teacher’s lounge, Jason Manford stirred up trouble amongst the cast.
The Manchester comic created a competition in the staff room to see who could top his makeshift “league table”. James recalled: “Jason had this thing that he would torture me with.
“Basically, if you did the scene in one take, you got added onto this league table. So, he started a league table, right, and I’ve got to give it to him – he did get a lot of one-takes.
(Image: BBC/NYNEX/Wall To Wall/Warner Brothers TV Production Services Ltd/Matt Burlem)
“He got a lot, so much so that I was worried he was bribing the DOP (director of photography). He created the list and he dominated the list.”
The actor revealed that he merely placed fourth on the table while the funnyman stormed to the top of the leaderboard. He went on: “I think I was like fourth or something like that but he was first by double at one point.
“And I’d say to him, ‘But you’re in more [scenes] than us, so you’ve got more opportunities than us.’ And he’d say, ‘Yeah I’ve got more opportunity to fail, I’ve got more opportunity to mess up’.”
(Image: BBC/Wall to Wall/Warner Brothers TV Production Services Ltd)
Kym Marsh chuckled as she recalled the TV star’s furious response when she overtook him on the leaderboard. She giggled: “We’re you there that day that I overtook him that day and he was fuming? He was fuming, he was genuinely furious.”
James added: “Yeah, he is competitive but in a really lovely way. He’s a really lovely man and really, really talented. We were always laughing.”
All eight episodes of series 14 of Waterloo Road will be available on BBC iPlayer from 6am on September 10.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
