Claire Sweeney, who played Cassie Plummer on Coronation Street since 2023, is leaving the soap to star as Miss Hannigan in a UK tour of the musical Annie. The 55-year-old says she has wanted the role since childhood.
“When I was a kid watching the film with all my mates, they wanted to be Annie but I wanted to be Miss Hannigan. She's funny, she's tragic and she gets a couple of great songs,” Sweeney told the Express during a break from rehearsals.
Soap life vs theatre
Sweeney, who came to fame on Brookside as Lindsey Corkhill in the early Nineties, said soap work is the hardest. “Being in a soap is the hardest work ever. When you're part of a main storyline you start at 7.30 in the morning and you finish at six or seven at night. Then you go home and learn your lines for the next day, so your brain is constantly firing on all cylinders.”
She contrasted that with theatre: “With theatre, once you know the show then you know it. You turn up at 6pm, do your warmup, go on at 7.30pm, finish two or three hours later, then unless you've got a matinee you're done until the next night.”
Dream role finally realised
For her 40th birthday, a friend made a collage of big moments in her life and career, superimposing her face on a picture of Paul O'Grady as Miss Hannigan. She hung it in her loo. “So I've been looking at me as Hannigan for 15 years every time I pop to the toilet, wishing for it to happen.”
She had asked producer Michael Harrison on and off for years. “Then the text came through, 'Do you still want to do Hannigan?' I was in Corrie but I've been wanting this part forever. When I was suddenly offered it, I couldn't say no because I might never get another chance again.”
Sweeney said she is nothing like the character. “Not at all. I love kids and I'm not an alcoholic. I like the occasional glass of wine but she's constantly drunk and topping up her glass.”
Coronation Street exit
Cassie Plummer arrived in Weatherfield as a drug addict, went into rehab, sought reconciliation with son Tyrone, stole from Ken Barlow, butted heads with Tracy and set her sights on Steve McDonald. Sweeney promised her exit later this summer will be “explosive” and praised the creative team: “They were absolutely wonderful about my leaving and I couldn't have wished for a better exit storyline for her.”
Asked if the door is open for a return, she said: “I think so but at the moment I'm focussing on Annie.”
Age and roles
On being offered parts like Miss Hannigan, Sweeney said: “I'm at an age where I'm getting all of the alcoholic cougars and I love it.” She added: “I'm at an age now where I'm less judgmental on myself. I look at pictures of me when I was young and I think, 'Oh God, I thought I was weighty there and I looked fabulous.'”
Sweeney, born in Walton, Liverpool, started disco dancing as a youngster and earned pocket money helping in her father's butcher's shop. At 14 she began singing in Liverpool nightclubs. She studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and got her big break in 1991 joining Brookside.
Since leaving Brookside in 2003, she has done panto, appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, presented 60 Minute Makeover, been a panellist on Loose Women, starred in Guys and Dolls, toured in Tell Me on a Sunday and hosted a Magic Radio show.
Future plans
Sweeney said playing Mrs. Johnson in Blood Brothers is another ambition. “And there are so many great dramas now and parts for mature women, which is wonderful. I just want to carry on enjoying my job and loving what I do.”
She will spend the summer portion of the Annie tour with her 11-year-old son Jaxon, whose father is her former fiancé Daniel Rigby. “He's a great kid and I'm so proud of him. How lucky am I? I've got a great life, I'm healthy, I love my job and I have a beautiful son. I feel so blessed.”
Claire Sweeney stars in the UK tour of Annie from now until March 14, 2027.
