ITV The Bay’s Olwen May, 62, shares ‘unexpected’ reaction to landing role in crime drama as ‘older woman’
ITV The Bay star Olwen May has shared her thoughts on being cast in the show as she prepares for her debut in the fifth series.
The 62-year-old actress is set to play Louise ‘Lou’ McClaren who has been seconded in to aid the team in Morecambe.
Reflecting on netting the role, the actress admitted the news “came out of left field” as she did not expect to get the part.
The principal reason for May’s surprise was her age – as she argued casting an actress in their 60’s was “quite unusual”.
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“As an actress, to get this kind of role at this stage in my life is fantastic,” May continued.
To that end, she said it was “great as an older actress to come into something and have the kind of experience of being a really big part of the story.”
Beyond being cast, May also glowed that her character was a welcome departure from what might conventionally be associated with an actress of her age.
McClaren joins the Morcambe team as a tech whiz with passion that rubs some characters, including Andrew Dowbiggin’s James DS James ‘Clarkie’ Clarke, the wrong way.
“It’s quietly radical to have an older woman who is also the tech queen in the office,” May explained.
She continued: “Generally, those parts are given to younger men.
“There’ll be all those women watching who are so tech savvy but never seem to see that portrayed on screen but here she is, so all power to her,” the actress enthused about McClaren.
Even if her character’s “dogged” and “terrier-like” attitude causes friction among the more conservative members of team, May explained her own experience with her co-stars could not be more different.
May had long admired The Bay’s cast from afar and knew some of the actors from other projects.
However, the actress admitted she had some anxiety that joining such a well-established team would “quite difficult”.
Yet the 62-year-old was happy to reveal her new co-stars were “extraordinarily welcoming, kind and generous.”
“It felt like from the minute I arrived, I’d been here for a long time.
“It was a great place to come into every day to come to work. It’s thrilling,” May concluded.