As Staged comes to an end. We chat to one of the cast members from the award winning show, Lucy Eaton. Eaton chats to us about working with David Tennant and Michael Sheen, what the new season brings and what she has coming up. 

Hi Lucy! We’re so honored to have you here for ReVamp Magazine. How has this year been so far?

You know what, it's been amazing: really varied and honestly the first time I felt like I was “thriving not surviving” since the pandemic began. I spent the first and coldest couple of months of the year in the British Virgin Islands (which was an incredible way to kick it all off!), I launched my luxury event entertainment company Revels in Hand stateside and I got to interview some absolute heroes for Hear Me Out.

Congratulations on the third and final season of ‘Staged’. How excited are you for people to see this season?

I’m insanely excited! This whole show has been like a mad dream. None of us ever thought it would be such a huge success but the response has been mind-blowing. With every series, Simon and Phin (the creators) were really keen that we only keep going if there was a new idea to explore, somewhere new to go with it. So it’s always a bit nerve-wracking to see how the fans take it. But I’m so proud of this final series. It’s the perfect third musketeer to the first two series and there’s no denying that (sadly) this is the end.

Do you think you and Simon’s sister have any similar interests?

Which "Simon’s sister" do you mean? Haha! Series 1 Lucy is nothing like me, but with every series that goes by, Simon’s sister becomes more like the real Simon’s sister. I have to say that in this latest series it was often very hard to separate character from reality! So to return to your original question: sure, Simon’s sister and I both really enjoy tangfastics, mezcal margaritas, Nicholas Britell’s Succession score and reading in the sun.

How does it feel to film/act while you’re on a Zoom call than being on set?

Very easy! I guess my only experience of acting on zoom has been this show, where I’m also playing a version of myself, opposite a bunch of actors playing versions of themselves, acting scenes where we’re all supposed to be on zoom calls. So it honestly just didn't feel like acting at all. And because you can jump on zoom from your home (or your holiday, as happened once for me) there was also no turning up to long days on set, with huge hair and make-up calls to start. It was all easy breezy. All 6 of the original main characters did get one chance to act together in person for a day on this series though, which was lovely.

You work alongside David Tennant and Michael Sheen. You must have some funny behind-the-scenes gossip that you can tell us.

Gossip implies that there’s dirt to be dished, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you down there. David and Michael are just 2 of the nicest and most brilliant men you’ll ever meet (and don’t get me started on Georgia and Anna). But we’ve had our fair share of funny anecdotes that just come from the spit-and-sawdust vibe of the whole creation. One moment immediately springs to mind: There’s a scene halfway through the third series that I shot separately from the rest of the cast (for long and mundane reasons I won’t bore you with here). On the day that the scene got filmed with everyone else (months later), I was on a long car journey and agreed to jump on the call just to read in my lines and those of a guest star. But the reception kept going. The scene itself revolves around the guest star cutting in and out on Zoom, and it was the funniest example of art mirroring life. My husband was driving the car and he got very confused about when I was reading lines, “sorry did I disappear again?”, and when I was actually apologising as myself, “Sorry guys, the 4G is awful here!” Everyone was super understanding and you’d never be able to tell watching the episode!

Now that Staged is coming to an end. Have you got any upcoming projects that we need to look out for?

I’ve got another series of my podcast Hear Me Out coming out later in the year, which I’d love everyone to take a listen to. If you haven’t heard any of the existing episodes, there are some really awesome celeb interviews already available (I’d particularly recommend the Mark Bonnar, Denise Gough, Sanjeev Bhaskar and J. Smith Cameron episodes). But other than that, I don’t know what lies ahead. I’d love to get back on a stage - the last time I did a play was over Christmas pre-Covid (A Day in the Death of Joe Egg on the West End) and I’m missing the camaraderie of a rehearsal room. But I’ve also loved doing a comedy series for telly. Comedy is absolutely where my heart is, so more of that would be great. I guess, watch this space!

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Staged is on BBC1 tonight at 10:40pm and you can also watch the show on BBC iPlayer.