Interview with the 2:22 A Ghost Story stars

Blackpool Gazette

Our celebrity reporter chats to Jay McGuinness (The Wanted) and Vera Chok (Hollyoaks) ahead of their performances in 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Blackpool Grand.

Transcript

00:00 Obviously we're here because you're bringing 222 Ghost Story to Blackpool.

00:03 Could you both first start by describing what the show is?

00:07 You know, people who have not heard of it, what they should expect?

00:10 The story is a dinner party by a young couple, or a couple who've just had a baby,

00:16 and then dinner guests arrive. That's us, we're the dinner guests.

00:21 And then the mother of your child goes, "There's a ghost in the house.

00:24 We want you to stay and find out to see if it arrives at 222."

00:29 And during the course of the evening...

00:30 We eat, we drink, we discuss, we fight. There might be a kiss, there might be a...

00:36 I don't want to give too much away.

00:38 No, fuck!

00:39 That's enough. That's enough.

00:40 And as we count down to 222 to see if there is actually a ghost, it's... yeah.

00:46 Would you describe it as scary?

00:49 I think... I think... is it scary?

00:54 I feel like that...

00:55 Spooky.

00:56 It's spooky and the hairs on my arms definitely stand out during the show.

01:02 There's some fun jump scares, but it's not like scary, scary.

01:06 It's super funny, for sure. 100% funny.

01:09 And it's... I don't think it's too scary.

01:12 No.

01:13 No.

01:14 But it does very much look at whether or not there are ghosts,

01:18 whether or not people believe in life after death.

01:20 So it's, you know, it does deal with that.

01:25 You both have already a long list of stage credits, so why did you audition for this show?

01:30 You've got a good story.

01:33 Yeah, so I watched it like six months ago.

01:36 Me and my manager watched a different cast doing it.

01:39 I was so impressed by it. I was so shocked by the twists at the end.

01:44 I...

01:45 There's a twist?

01:46 There's a twist.

01:47 Oh my god.

01:48 And I straight away just said to my manager,

01:51 "Please, please, please get me an audition. I just really would love to have a go."

01:55 And I think that in my audition, it probably came across how

01:58 mad keen and pretty obsessed with the show I was.

02:01 So it all went well, and I'm genuinely pinching myself that I'm now putting on the suit

02:08 and shoes with no socks on, and putting on my gold watch and gold chain,

02:13 and strutting around that stage like I own the place.

02:15 Feel very grateful.

02:16 Aww.

02:18 I just loved the opportunity to play a three-dimensional actual human being

02:28 where the character's got nothing to do with my ethnicity.

02:30 I've had a long battle with fighting stereotypes, being a Southeast Asian.

02:38 And Lauren is so...

02:40 It's exactly my casting of someone who's putting on a brave face and doing her best,

02:46 but really struggling. And so I really wanted to play her, yeah.

02:50 And it's such an entertaining play.

02:52 When I saw the show, I was like, "Oh my god, yeah.

02:54 I want to be able to entertain audiences in this way."

02:59 Yeah.

02:59 Great script.

03:01 It was a great script.

03:02 Obviously, you're bringing it to Blackpool.

03:05 How are you feeling about bringing it all the way up to Lancashire?

03:07 I've been meaning to...

03:11 When I lived in Liverpool, I really wanted to go to Blackpool.

03:13 Like, time and time again, I planned trips and they all failed.

03:18 So finally, I'm going to get to Blackpool.

03:20 I'm so excited.

03:22 So for people who will be watching this video, reading the article,

03:26 that haven't got tickets yet,

03:28 why would you encourage the people of Lancashire to get the last ones?

03:31 I think if you heard anything about 2/22,

03:36 then you know that there's a bit of a fuss being made about it.

03:40 And I want to reassure people, when you go there,

03:42 when I went there, I was like, "Oh, I get why it's so popular."

03:45 It was so gripping.

03:46 So it lives up to the hype, in my opinion.

03:50 It is a good night out.

03:52 It's so simple.

03:53 Like, it's entertaining.

03:54 It's sort of stimulating.

03:56 You get to chat to the people around you and keep chatting for days afterwards.

04:01 It's just super fun.

04:02 And it's, yeah, I highly recommend.

04:05 It's everything I would want from a theatre show, from a live event.

04:10 Yeah.

04:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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