Natalie Cassidy, known for playing Sonia Fowler in EastEnders, voices the mother of Ricky Gervais' character Gus in the new Netflix animated series Alley Cats. She appears in flashbacks and modern-day scenes, and has described the role as 'pivotal' to the series' narrative.
Cassidy's Role and Reaction
Cassidy admitted she had been playing down the importance of her part before the show's release, but after watching the full series, she feels proud of it. Speaking to The Independent, she said: “I’d been playing the role down a bit, because it’s only small But having watched the whole series, I feel really proud of it.”
Alley Cats is a six-part adult animation about "a gang of foul-mouthed feral cats who cause havoc while musing on the meaning of life and fighting for survival in a brutal human world."
Comedy Background and Aspirations
This is not Cassidy's first comedic role, as she has previously made cameo appearances in BBC shows Motherland and Mandy. The writer and star of Mandy, Diane Morgan, also voices Olive in Alley Cats. Cassidy is the only cast member who has not previously appeared alongside Gervais, and she hopes this role might lead to similar parts.
She said: “I’ve been a huge Ricky fan going back to The Office , and I’ve always said I’d love to work with him. People have just looked at me like, ‘You’re b***** mad!’ But I had a gut feeling that it might happen.”
Cassidy recounted that when Gervais called her, she had just dropped her daughters off at school, and the moment was so unbelievable her knees buckled in the kitchen.
Cast and Availability
The rest of the Alley Cats cast includes stars from Gervais' previous Netflix series After Life: Tom Basden as Ponce, Andrew Brooke as Fang, Tony Way as the drug dealer cat, and Kerry Godliman as Lara. David Earl plays Puke, and Jo Hartley plays Kitten. Alley Cats is now streaming on Netflix.
