Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire has seen her dreams of Hollywood stardom dealt a blow with the axing of her latest show.
Lancashire, 59, received rave reviews from critics playing acclaimed US chef Julia Child in the show ‘Julia’ which has just begun airing its second season on Sky.
The actress, who shot to fame playing feisty barmaid Raquel Watts in Coronation Street from 1991 to 1996, was described as a ‘British acting treasure’ by Vanity Fair while Hollywood ‘bible’ Variety called her portrayal ‘poignant, funny and magnificent.’
Lancashire was earning a reported $50,000 an episode to star as Child, a middle-aged woman who introduced French cuisine to America through her long-running ’60s television show ‘The French Chef.’
The BAFTA-winning actress spoke of her love for the role saying: ‘She’s unlike anybody I’ve ever encountered before. She’s pioneering. She’s a frontierswoman.’
Sarah Lancashire, seen here in character, won rave reviews playing US TV chef Julia Child in ‘Julia’
Julia Child, a TV chef, introduced French cuisine to America through her long-running ’60s television show ‘The French Chef’
While she admitted she had never heard of Child before starting filming she grew to love the character: ‘I won’t have a word said against her,’ Lancaster said in a recent interview.
The actress started filming the first series of Julia just before the pandemic shut-down production.
She called resuming the show under strict Covid regulations ‘very hard’ and called spending months away from her family in the UK ‘the hardest thing ever.’
A spokesman for Max, which aired the show in the US, praised the ‘dynamic cast led by Sarah Lancashire, as they cooked up Julia.’
He said: ‘Thanks to their beautiful work over two seasons of this heartfelt, sensual and inspiring show, we can forever celebrate the incredible legacy of Julia Child.’
Oldham-born Lancashire played matriarch Sgt. Catherine Cawood for three seasons on the BBC1 series ‘Happy Valley.’
Last night a source said: ‘This is a real shock. Critics and fans loved Julia and it was Sarah’s big break in the US. This will come as a huge blow for her. The second season has been getting her the best reviews of her career.’
Social media immediately blew up with heartbroken fans mourning the show’s cancelation.
‘How can they cancel the wittiest and most charming series ever? This is a travesty. It’s the best show around!’ wrote one fan on X, formerly Twitter.
Another added: ‘I can’t believe they’ve cancelled Julia. Sarah Lancashire is a joy and the best thing on TV.’
Lancashire has yet to comment on the cancellation but an agent at a major Hollywood talent agency told the MoS: ‘Don’t write her off. She’s won an army of new fans in Hollywood and, while this is obviously a short term set-back for her career, there’s no doubt she will be offered other roles.
‘Happy Valley isn’t coming back so it will be interesting to see where she goes from here.’
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