Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire's life away from fame including depression battle
Sarah Lancashire is a talented actress and one of a handful os stars up for Best Drama Performance at tonight's National Television Awards – but her life away from the cameras is a humble one.
The 58-year-old has been nominated for her portrayal of Sgt Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley, which aired its third and final series last February. Despite the British crime show coming to an end, Sarah has continued to flex her acting chops on the small screen.
She is currently starring as Julia Child in Julia, an HBO comedy based on the extraordinary life of the late 1960s American chef. The second season kicks off in October, after receiving widespread critical acclaim with its first season. Sarah has also battled her fair share of health issues behind the scenes, however, having been diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 18. She suffered a nervous breakdown in the 1990s, during which point she described herself as a "ticking time bomb waiting to go off". Sarah also said she'd be left ‘hysterical’ by just the ‘thought of getting out of bed’, but forced herself to do it anyway over fear of people’s reactions.
Sarah Lancashire as Sgt Catherine in Happy Valley (BBC/Red Productions)“I was terrified of being judged and misunderstood,” she admitted. While her family were aware of her plight, she didn’t tell anybody at work what she was going through. At the time, Sarah was a well-known TV actress playing Rovers Return barmaid Raquel Watts on Coronation Street. She has since called this silence the "worst thing" she could have done, because as someone in the public eye, “you can really make a difference” speaking about “subjects that are taboo.”
She has also detailed how severe her depression can be in an interview with The Sun, admitting it restricts her from being able to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
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”I have never known what it feels like to wake up in the morning, full of the joys of spring, and wander through the day feeling capable of coping,” she explained. Her symptoms only worsened after she was prescribed tranquillisers that left her in ”a terrible mess”, reducing her twenties to a total ”write-off”. She has since been able to manage her depression, which she calls a ”cruel illness”, with therapy and SSRI medication.
Sarah Lancashire with her sons in 2011 (Getty Images)
Sarah Lancashire with her BAFTA in 2017 (WireImage)Today, Sarah lives in a £3 million mansion in a leafy London neighbourhood. She shares the five-bedroom abode with her second husband, Peter Salmon, and their son, Joseph. Sarah also has two adult sons, Thomas and Matthew, from her previous marriage to Gary Hargreaves.
The actress has had the opportunity to live in the US for work, but has always shunned the move in order to stay close to her family. ”The older that I get, the harder it is to be away from home,” she said. ”I love being at home. I’m very much a mum when I go home – the mums among us know it’s a full-time job.”
Sarah has also hailed her second marriage to Peter as ”precious” in the past, revealing her determination to protect it from the media's glare. ”I guard it because it’s very precious. It’s not a piece of drama. It is real life, my normal life. And I value my normality,” she told The Sun.
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