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Born in Hertfordshire, Sarah Hadland, 54, attended Laine Theatre Arts college in Surrey. From 2009 to 2015, she played Stevie in the Bafta-nominated sitcom Miranda, and her other television work includes Horrible Histories, Waterloo Road, W1A, The Job Lot and Daddy Issues. This Christmas, she appears on The Festive Pottery Throwdown and The Celebrity Apprentice, and stars as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Marlowe theatre in Canterbury. She lives with her child in London.
What is your earliest memory?
I remember putting on my sister’s dungarees – they were purple and flared – to do an Elvis impression and my family laughing, and thinking: “Oh, this is good.”
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Lemn Sissay. What happened to him and what he’s done with his life is extraordinary.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Very impatient, bossy, always late.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Laziness, lack of empathy, lack of humour.
Describe yourself in three words
Speedy, bossy, loving.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I’ve got eyes like little currants.
If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
Spangles.
What does love feel like?
A glow of wellbeing.
What is your most unappealing habit?
I bite my nails. One of the first adverts I did, they used a hand model for my hands.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
Years ago, I was trying to get with one of the big agencies and I cobbled together a VHS tape of me in adverts and sobbing in The Bill, and took it United Agents for the attention of Dallas Smith. A week later I went back and said, “Has she looked at the tape?” And they were, like, “Dallas is a he, no he hasn’t and he doesn’t want to,” and handed it back to me.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A missionary in Africa – I think that was Sunday school-based.
What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
“You’ll never, ever work.” When you are young and full of hopes and dreams it’s devastating. I am just grateful that I thought: “Well, I’m going to try.”
What was the last lie that you told?
“No, we can’t get YouTube on our TV – I don’t know why.”
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Dreadful or thrilled.
What is the worst job you’ve done?
Magician’s assistant on a cruise ship for two weeks when I was 19. When I was meant to be being levitated, I was silently crying while pretending to be unconscious as I hung limply off a metal pole. It was bleak.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
If there could be a double of me to look after my child when I’m working.
How would you like to be remembered?
As a good mum.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
You are good enough.
Tell us a secret
Aimee Lou Wood and I are massive Five fans and in between scenes of Daddy Issues, we sang Everybody Get Up.
