Actress Maimie McCoy has come a long way since performing at regional dance competitions across Teesside.
The 35-year-old is currently receiving critical acclaim for her portrayal of the beautiful but deadly assassin Milady de Winter in the BBC’s blockbuster series The Musketeers.
And last year saw her star alongside big names such as Elijah Wood and Celyn Jones in Set Fire to the Stars, a Dylan Thomas biopic produced by Eaglescliffe -born A J Riach.
The former Stokesley School pupil recalls her humble beginnings at the Bradley School of Dance with affection.
“It felt like we were dancing every waking minute. I can still remember all the dances,” she said.
“It’s funny, some days I can’t remember what happened yesterday but I’ll never forget my first ballet solo.”
After school, Maimie was leaning towards a career in performing arts. But her hopes of enrolling at the Arts Educational Schools in London, commonly known as ArtsEd, was out of reach due to the fees.
Instead she chose a degree course at London Metropolitan University.
“I wanted to be right in the heart of London so the location was just right,” she said.
“It was a very creative and academic course. At the time it was quite revolutionary in what it was was teaching but it wasn’t as commercial as I had wanted.
“I remember on the first day they said to us ‘If anyone wants to be in Cats you’re in the wrong place’ and I was thinking that’s exactly my thing.”
Maimie is the daughter of one of Teesside’s most well-known restaurateurs - Eugene McCoy, former owner of the Cleveland Tontine who now runs The Crathorne Arms, near Yarm.
“They’ve been in there just over a year now,” she said. “It’s an amazing pub and seems to have really brought the village together.”
“You get a great mix in there with all the local drinkers and all his old, faithful customers.
“I’ve been there a lot over the last couple of years.”
She now considers London her second home although Teesside will always hold top place in her heart.
“I’ve almost been in London as long now but I always say I am going home if I am going back up north,” she said.
Maimie’s CV is packed with credits including guest roles in Taggart, Little Devil and Waking The Dead. In 2009 she was cast as Nicole Palmerston-Amory in Personal Affairs, a role which saw her nominated for a TV Quick Award as best supporting actress.
Filming The Musketeers has been a brilliant experience, she said.
“In the first series you are in a bit of a bubble with all the initial excitement but my character has gone up a gear in the second series which I wasn’t expecting so that’s been a challenge,” she said.
“I think I’ve been more self-critical in the last series and put myself under pressure to do something extraordinary.”
Maimie is keeping her fingers crossed for a third series of The Musketeers and is expecting a decision in the next couple of weeks.
“They tied a lot of the storylines up but the idea was always to have three series and there are still places for the story to go,” she said.
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