Ellie's moment of truth

THE Hollyoaks murder trial begins next week and Salford actress Sarah Baxendale, who plays Ellie Mills, can't wait. "I'm sure viewers are sick of the sight of Ellie crying," she comments, dryly.

"And my gran would like to see me with a smile on my face sometime soon. She wants me to go on screen and look pretty. I'm the only one who goes into make-up and comes out looking worse, with bags under my eyes."

The bags and tears are understandable. The young widow has certainly had some pretty harrowing times of late. Finding out she was married to a serial killer can't have been easy. Then she toppled off a high building, fell into a coma and woke up to find her husband was dead.

So far, so bad. Now she has to contend with the trial which will see Ellie's brother, Dan, being accused of murdering her late husband, Toby. And Ellie's testifying against him.

"It's knackering," says Sarah, 24. "At first, I was really pleased with Ellie. She was a tart and really feisty, so I got quite a few storylines. Then the murders started and it was nice because it was a bit different.

"But now the focus is on me because Toby's gone. It's great, but I do hope there's light at the end of the tunnel.

"Being in most episodes, you're working almost every day and at weekends. It can be tiring and you don't get to do much outside work. But you do it because you've made a choice to. There will always be some kind of end to it and normal life will return, which is what it's all about."

Not that Sarah's complaining too much, given that she's wanted to act since she was a little girl. "I was always in the school plays. I loved acting and singing. I studied at drama school and after that I did a year in theatre. Then came small parts in TV shows like Fat Friends, Doctors, and My Beautiful Son with Julie Walters. Getting the part in Hollyoaks in 2002 wasn't easy. I had five auditions - I was so nervous!"

Although she's not from a showbiz family, Sarah's mum, Sheila, sister Katie, 21, and stepdad Phil, all love a bit of amateur dramatics. "The house is never quiet. My sister's a trained opera singer and at the start of a career in music. And my mum's discovered she loves acting and has got a great voice.

Theatre

"The family do a lot with the local theatre group in their spare time - even my stepdad helps behind the scenes. I'd love to do something with them one day - it'd be like The Brady Bunch!"

The family live in Manchester, while Sarah shares a house in Liverpool with an actor boyfriend she doesn't want to name.

She's not among the 14 cast members set to be axed by creator Phil Redmond in a planned clear out at the soap, set in a fictional Chester suburb.

Being a member of one of Britain's most attractive casts means there's real pressure to look good. "You have to remind yourself not to get obsessive about it. Hollyoaks is based on image but at the end of the day it's not just about that. And future jobs aren't going to depend so much on image.

"The trial could go either way. Ellie's aware something wasn't right on that rooftop, but she's still very confused about it all.

"Deep down she knows Dan pushed Toby in self-defence. I think she's in denial of the fact that Toby was actually a murderer.

"If Dan goes down, the family will look badly on her, but if she comes out with the truth it could have implications for her."

As for Sarah's future, Hollyoaks is just the start of things. "I'm happy where I am but I do want to give new things a go at some point. You never know if you don't try."