For anyone who has caught Charlie Griffiths either on stage in one of her many theatre productions or hearing her sing as part of the duo Killa Sista, it is easy to see why so many critics and, more importantly, audiences love her. She has numerous credits to her name, her first television appearance in Children’s Ward at the age of 13 led onto other  television roles. Her love of theatre has seen her star in Road as Helen, the title role in Everyman, Emma in A Liverpool Tale and Gloria in Return To Forbidden Planet.

To even catch up with Charlie takes planning on an epic scale, as her busy schedule, as an actor, singer and mum means taking any opportunity possible to speak to her. Always a pleasure to chat to, I ask Charlie about her time in theatre, the music she is part of and her future projects.

You are a woman of many talents and parts, not only an actor of note but you are an incredible singer as well.

“Yes, I am one half of a duo called Killa Sista which I perform with my lovely sister Clair Griffiths.”   

How did that come about, with the time it must take to do everything you do, it’s impressive, do you have to split yourself in half to do it?

“It started off when I was in college studying drama. My sister was in a six piece band called Breeze so I joined and we were the front singers and we had several performances at The Cavern and we were very fortunate to do that and from there the band split up as the musicians were getting on a bit and decided to retire. So Clair and I decided that we didn’t want to give up so we formed a duo called Mi Sis and we did a lot of the pubs and clubs and from there we thought we were not enjoying it as much because we were doing cheesy songs.

So we thought no, we want to be a little bit self indulgent as well as please the audience we wanted to please ourselves and enjoy what we do and choose songs that we love, we changed the image and changed the name and came up with Killa Sista and came up with our new image which is more ourselves rather than cabaret style.

 We stripped ourselves down, no more cabaret, more rock, soul and funk and we just love to do that style. We just love getting up on stage. It’s one of those things that if you live and breathe it you want to do it all the time and you put your heart and soul into it. So when we realised we weren’t enjoying it (Mi Sis) we took a step back and wondered what we were doing wrong and what can we do. We thought well, we aren’t enjoying it because we are not ourselves and if you’re not yourself…well you have to be yourself when you are a singer. There is obviously a different side to you when performing in any sense really but you have to be yourself when you sing it as a soloist, part of a duo or as a member of a band.”    

What got you into performing?

“When I was really young (laughs) I know it’s one of those things, well she was always singing and dancing since she was a baby (laughs) but I genuinely was. I was just a little show off and I always wanted to be the centre of attention as a child and my mum when I was younger, before she moved away, she lived with us and she was singer and she…I used to watch her perform in clubs and it’s in my blood. Seeing my older sister Clair, she’s older than me and when she was in Drama College I used to watch her shows and I used to think I really do enjoy this, I want to do this.

As I got old enough to understand that you can do it as a career I took it really seriously and while I was in primary school I was in all the plays and wanting to be part of it and when I was in high school I was in drama clubs and enjoying performing and singing. I was in a trio called D’sire and I duo called D‘vine who did all the Blackpool circuit. I was really fortunate to do that as a child as I got into it really early on.”

In the last couple of years you have been in some absolutely storming productions, the superb Down Our Street at the Unity Theatre and the brilliant If The Shoe Fits at The Floral Pavilion, New Brighton.

“I was really lucky to be part of them. Down Our Street also produced as well and directed with Brian McCann, Brian is an absolutely amazing writer and an amazing director and I have worked with him a lot on numerous occasions. If The Shoe Fits was sheer luck as the woman who originally played the role of Liz due to personal reasons unfortunately had to step out and so Richie Grice who was the director and Donna Lesley Price who was the writer they both approached me and asked if I would like to take part.

I feel very fortunate to have been part of a fantastic and well written piece of theatre because it is so different from the usual plays that you see about the Scouse humour. It was more about the actual characters and their back story, it was just so well written and all these back stories that were going on in If The Shoe Fits and how they all come together in such a way that the audience could relate to it and relate to the relationships. It’s the same with Brian McCann and his writing his exactly the same and everybody can relate to a character in his writing so they can enjoy it a lot more because it’s not ramming things down your throat with all these facts, it’s just a nice story that has the comedy and the characters and a wonderful journey that a piece of theatre should take. You can’t have these theatres…I believe you can’t have theatres spoon feeding the audience, you don’t need to do that. You need to let the audience sit back, relax and enjoy the journey.”

Judging the audiences reactions to If The Shoe fits, it seemed to go down so well.

“You have to trust a piece, no matter how you feel when you first read a script…there are a lot of times when you feel I’m not sure that will work but if you enjoy the script and you enjoy the story and the character, then you get on stage and hear and feel the audiences reactions when you hear them laughing or crying, you think oh my God it does work and that’s why I am the actress and not the writer.

The part where I have powder over my face I was just told to go for it, give me an inch and I will take a mile. What you should do…what I was taught was as an actor you have got to give it your all and the director’s job is to reel you in. It’s easier for a director to go bring it down instead of bring it up. You got to have the energy, passion and drive for it.”

I know we can’t talk about it too much but are you looking forward to being part of another great cast at the St. Helen’s Theatre Royal this Christmas?

“I am extremely loyal to St. Helens Theatre Royal; they have been fantastic to me. I think the world of Jane and Chantelle (Jane Joseph and Chantelle Nolan) they are just wonderful people and have always been very loyal to me. I have been in numerous pantomimes at the theatre and this one I am so excited about because I am working with Nick Cochrane again which I am really excited about anyway. Leanne Campbell who is just brilliant and wonderful, people just think she is just a presenter but far from it; she can dance, she can sing, she can act, she is just amazing and this will be the first time I have worked with Tina Malone who is part of this wonderful cast. Also Richard De Vere, Mark Lawlor and the amazing Simon Foster who I worked with last year in Aladdin, he is an actor to look out for and I’m so excited to be doing the Christmas Pantomime again.”

Is there a particular part that you really would like to perform?

“You know, there is not an actual role that I would like to do. It’s such a difficult question to answer (laughs). I have played Mrs. Johnstone in the play version of Blood Brothers and I have played LV in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and they are two parts that I always wanted to play. I would love to perform them on the West-End, I have only done bits and bobs…but Broadway even (laughs) lets go bigger, Broadway all the way. I aspire to be like Judy Garland, now that I have to say would probably be a dream job to play Judy Garland, just sensational.

I am going to be in a play next year called Tongues with Grin Productions alongside Eddie John Fortune who is a wonderful actor and has just played Brain Epstein at the Unity Theatre in Love Me Do. It’s a psychological thriller called Tongues and a very intense play, it’s really dark and a piece of theatre that I haven’t done for a really long time. A piece of gritty theatre which is lot different to what I have been doing.”     

Ian D. Hall