Michelle Gayle won our hearts way back in 1990 as part of the first black family on Albert Square – and now she is helping break new ground again.
The 48-year-old plays Hermione in the hit Harry Potter West End play, which is set nearly 20 years after they left school.
Michelle juggles her daily performances with her family life, looking after her seven-year-old boy, Luke. And she has son Isaiah, 19, and another boy of the same age – also called Isaiah – who she and husband Tony Lynch "unofficially fostered” four years ago.
The actor says: “We’re a really busy family. My husband used to coach my 'other Isaiah', as I call him, in rugby, and he was nearing exam time but his mum had to move house in an emergency situation and he couldn’t move with her.
“He was homeless and sleeping from couch to couch and he asked to stay with us for a bit. My husband asked me, ‘Look, would you mind?’ I think Isaiah was 15 then. I said I didn’t mind and he ended up staying. I spoke to his mum and she was OK with it.
“He says he’s so happy to be a part of this family. It’s amazing. He’s been a great addition to our family.”
Michelle spends at least five hours a day at the Palace Theatre in London playing Hermione in Harry Potter And The Cursed Child. With entrepreneur Tony, she has hired a male nanny, or manny, to help.
She adds: “Oh my gosh, the juggle is really hard. I’ve got my mum and in-laws who help out and Luke loves his manny because it’s like having another brother. He takes Luke places and hangs out with him.”
Michelle, who had chart success with a solo pop career in the 90s, added: “I spend more time at the theatre than I do at home, often 10-hour days.”
Isaiah is Michelle’s son with ex-husband and former footballer Mark Bright. She says of having two teenagers with the same name in the house: “I have to give them different nicknames. The boys are very different and have different sets of friends.
“They are separate entities, but they get on very well.” Both boys are now at university, with Isaiah studying history and the “other Isaiah” sociology.
Despite the anti-social hours of stage work, Michelle has no regrets in taking the role of the older Hermione.
She says: “I love it. It’s challenging, but such a fantastic job. The downside is that your Sundays are gone, and when you’ve got kids that’s hard.
“But the good side is playing a female character with such strength and range.” Eyebrows were raised when the role of Hermione went to a black woman, at first Noma Dumezweni. But Harry Potter author JK Rowling said at the time: “Brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified.”
Michelle says: “It must have been tough for Noma as the first casting.
“I’ve had a very positive response. Just because you’re of colour it doesn’t mean you can’t play that character.”
London-born Michelle is no stranger to challenging perceptions. In 1990, as Hattie Tavernier in EastEnders, she was part of the BBC soap’s first black family. And she was the first black woman to be Belle in the stage show Beauty and the Beast.
She says: “Of all the characters I’ve played I’m most like Hermione. I loved school and was always studious. I also have that sense of justice, of doing the right thing.
“I worked hard at school because my parents always drilled into me since the age of seven that I’d have fewer opportunities than anyone else.
“They said I’d need everything in my locker that I could possibly get.”
Michelle’s social worker mum was against her daughter going into the entertainment industry, telling her: “Look at the TV screen, look at you. Do you see anyone like you on screen? No.” But her factory engineer dad told her to go for it. Michelle adds: “They are so proud.
“My parents had told me the chances of my success were slim. That’s why at theatre school I couldn’t afford not to work hard. I didn’t get drunk until I was 35. I just thought, any false move and I’m out.”
Michelle says she is now more relaxed, even enjoying the odd glass of wine and going out dancing with friends.
She likes to stay healthy but avoids “mad diets”. The actor adds: “I’m not one of these clean-eating people. I’d never starve myself, I cannot bear to be hungry. I just try to eat sensibly. Hitting 50 doesn’t bother me at the moment.
“Being 48 is tricky with casting. I think the industry has improved. I think it used to be that you had to be under 30 as a woman to be a lead. Now there are so many kick-ass women over 40 on TV and the audience loves them.” Michelle is turned off by the idea of plastic surgery. Asked if she would ever consider it, she replies: “No way. My younger friends are having Botox and it cracks me up. No one needs Botox. It’s a social condition.
“Everyone has insecurities. I hate my legs, they are huge. I look in the mirror and go, ‘Woah.’ But I don’t care enough to make it an issue. I don’t make the way I look the most important part of my life.” But Michelle admits she will decline invitations to events because of the pressure to look good. She says: “It gives me anxiety enough to say I’m not going.”
When Michelle is not working or with family she likes to write. She says: “I want to work on a drama I’ve created. It’s a show that reflects people like me, people who don’t quite fit the mould but are out there surviving.”
Michelle admits she never watches EastEnders these days, but does not rule out a return, saying: “Never say never.”
*Harry Potter and the Cursed Child continues at the Palace Theatre. HarryPotterthePlay.com.
