“It’s the hardest job I’ve ever done”: Sheridan Smith on playing her “hero” in new ITV drama I Fought the Law

She’s renowned for portraying pain and grief, but for Sheridan Smith, her latest role in her upcoming ITV drama, I Fought the Law, has been her toughest yet. In an exclusive interview with Good Housekeeping, Sheridan shared the significance of playing her “hero” Ann Ming, the “fire firecracker of a woman” who fought tirelessly to bring her daughter’s murderer to justice - and why she unable to give anything but her all to the role.

"I love my job… especially when I get to be part of telling amazing stories,” she says. "I Fought the Law is probably the hardest job I’ve ever done, partly because I wanted to do Ann Ming’s story justice. She’s a little firecracker of a woman who took on the establishment and won. She’s my hero.”

Sheridan was performing in Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London when her agent sent her the script of the four-part series, which follows mother-of-three Ann Ming’s true story from the morning of her daughter Julie’s disappearance in November 1989. In February 1990, tragically, Ann discovered her daughter’s body in her home – and it was the start of a harrowing campaign for justice.

The series recounts how Ann battled for 15 years to overturn the double jeopardy law, so that her daughter’s murderer, William Dunlop, could finally face justice, having been controversially acquitted following two mistrials. Thanks to Ann's courageous fight, in 2005, Dunlop was finally retried for Julie’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment the following year.

“How had this little lady from up north gone and changed an 800-year-old law?” says Sheridan about Ann, who she formed an instant bond with when working on the TV drama. “I was thrilled to be asked to play her and couldn’t wait to meet her. Her story hit especially hard as I’m a mum myself now.”

“I instantly loved her," she says of the moment she met Ann. “She’s salt of the earth. Tough, yet vulnerable. She’s been through unthinkable things.”

Many of us will be familiar with Sheridan’s knack for evoking powerful emotions through her roles, but for Sheridan, giving anything less than her all to each part she plays simply isn't an option. “I do try and give me heart,” she says.

“Maybe it’s because I had no formal acting training and have never been taught how to act. I don’t know anything other than how to feel the emotions of a person. I try to put myself in their shoes.”

Having become what her former Gavin & Stacey co-star James Corden describes as “one of the greats”, you’d think success would have changed Sheridan, who grew up in Epworth, near Doncaster. And yet it seems she remains as grounded as ever. ‘

“I’ve got quite a common face,” she says. “When I moved to London, I chased the guy from the Dulux paint advert down the street for an autograph. I’m still that kid from a little village up north, in my head.”

I Fought the Law airs on ITV1 and STV and streams on ITVX and STV Player this autumn, followed by a documentary about Ann’s historic campaign.

Read the full interview in Good Housekeeping's September issue, on sale now.