As restrictions ease we’re all looking forward to what we’ll want – more than anything – to do, once we are allowed. For actress Gaynor Faye, it’s a no-brainer.
“I just want to be able to hug people again,” she tells us on the phone from her Yorkshire home. “I’m absolutely longing to be able to do that and I can’t wait. Obviously, I hug the family members I live with but I so miss cuddling my friends.
“I’ve been going on socially distanced walks with various friends – one at a time – around our village, and not being able to hug them hello and goodbye feels so weird. I’m very tactile and miss the physical affection. So, I’m looking forward to some nice big bear hugs again when we can. That’s what I want more than anything.”
In fact, Gaynor says she’d prefer a hug with pals to a win on the lottery. “I really would. I’ve never done the lottery and I’m not tempted at all. I don’t think loads of money brings you happiness. OK, money brings comfort and makes life better materially – and so many people could do with more of it right now. But an abundance of money and not using it in the right way, isn’t good in my opinion. It brings out greed in people – and anger, foolishness and anxiety. Money doesn’t always make the best of people - it can bring out the worst in people too. It brings out a lot of bad stuff in addition to the comfort and security it can buy. I mean, how much cash do we really need to make us happy? I’ve never done the lottery because I’m not bothered about having millions in my bank account. So long as I can work and earn a good living – enough to feed us, keep a roof over our heads and have a relatively nice-ish life – that’s enough for me.”
As in the previous series of The Syndicate, the storyline focuses on a group of people who have clubbed together to do the lottery every week, and what happens when their numbers come up!
“I play a character called Cheryl,” Gaynor explains. “She and her fiancé Frank (played by Neil Morrissey) run the newsagents where the syndicate – a group of young people from the nearby Woodvale dog kennels – bought their winning ticket. The cat and mouse drama starts as we follow the lives of the syndicate – and Cheryl and Frank who are involved, too. There are lots of twists and turns, rights and wrongs, greed and stupidity, loyalty and love. It’s got everything – including lots of dogs!”
I don’t think loads of money brings you happiness
Much of The Syndicate was filmed during the lockdown. “For a start, it’s been incredible to be working at all as an actor,” Gaynor replies. “A lot of my friends have lost work because shows have been cancelled or postponed. So, actually, to be filming a series in the midst of the situation is just a huge feat in itself and to have finished it and not to have stopped is incredible. But it’s not been an easy ride. We had to keep isolated, wear masks and have Covid tests every week. The anxiety levels were high waiting for our results back as a positive result could be detrimental to the show and nobody wanted that responsibility. We had to stay in our bubbles, which meant that the social aspect of the job wasn’t the same. When you do a job, normally you’ll socialise together after filming but we couldn’t do that.”
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When she hasn’t been working, Gaynor has filled her time by taking up new interests.
“I’m doing loads of stuff,” she laughs. “I signed up to do four classes – remotely, of course – at my local college. I’m doing Spanish, Creative Wellbeing, Counselling for Beginners and Classics! I’ve also been doing a lot of cooking and doodling!
“My love for painting has reignited – I used to paint in watercolours all the time – and I’ve got my easel and my paints back out. I thought initially I’d spend a lot of lockdown writing but I haven’t. I found that every time I started, Covid was at the forefront of my mind and didn’t want to write about that. Not when we’re living with it.
“Needless to say, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my kids who both live at home. My son, Oliver (19) is a writer and is mostly in the study, creating. My daughter Lily-Mae (17) is doing her dancing course remotely. So, I’ve got one child lost in his characters and the other, dancing around the house!”
Family is very important to Gaynor – indeed The Syndicate is very much a family affair. Her sister, Yvonne, is a producer on the series while her mum, Kay Mellor, created, wrote and directed it. “While I’m part of Rollem, Mum’s production company, it’s been more than 13 years since I acted in her TV work,” says Gaynor (49).
“My mum’s a bit like a superhuman – she’s up at the crack of dawn, directing all day, dealing with all the other Rollem projects in her lunch hour. After going home, she plans for the next day’s filming and deals with re-writes on other projects before going to bed.
“She’s quite amazing, really. It’s fantastic working with her, she’s a great director, a great writer and passionate about her work. Mum also wants everybody to have a great experience on set. She comes from an acting background so she’s fantastic for actors to go to and because she’s written the characters, she knows them inside out.”
The Syndicate, which runs for six episodes, starts on Tuesday March 30, 9pm, BBC 1
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