Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Laura Aikman (Part One)

Episode Date: August 25, 2026

This week Emily and Ray take a stroll with the wonderful Laura Aikman and her brilliantly named French bulldog, Eric Cantona.Laura is perhaps best known to millions of Gavin & Stacey fans as Smithy’s formidable girlfriend Sonia, but her acting career stretches back much further. She chats to Emily about growing up in Hertfordshire with an actress mum and stuntman dad, becoming a child actor herself, and playing Anthony Hopkins’ daughter in Surviving Picasso.They also talk about Laura’s career in shows including Archie and the acclaimed BBC drama This City Is Ours, before getting into that unforgettable return to Gavin & Stacey. Laura reveals the extraordinary lengths she went to in order to keep her appearance in the Christmas finale secret, even from her own parents, and the hilarious reaction video that subsequently went viral.Laura also talks about her new play, Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy, a contemporary reimagining of the Helen of Troy myth in which she stars alongside Michelle Dockery. It runs at Stratford East from September 3rd to October 10th, and tickets are available at https://www.stratfordeast.com.It’s a wonderfully relaxed conversation with an actress who is thankfully absolutely nothing like Sonia. Plus, the simple joy of repeatedly hearing someone shout things like “Eric Cantona, stop licking me” throughout a dog walk.Follow Emily:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyrebeccadeanX: https://twitter.com/divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Will NicholsMusic: Rich JarmanArtwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh, McAnonaut's got a leaf hanging off his drawl. Oh my god. Babe. Can you make that the trailer? This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I went for a stroll with the very wonderful actress Laura Aitman and her beautiful French bulldog, Eric Cantanar. I know I'm obsessed with the name as well. Laura is of course best known for her role in Gavin and Stacey playing Smithy's rather terrifying girlfriend Sonia, who none of us wanted him to marry. Because she was awful, but fortunately she's a phenomenal actress because Laura herself could not be more delightful.

And we had the loveliest chat about Laura's childhood growing up in Hertfordshire with her actress mum and stuntman dad, who's appeared in everything from Alien to James Bond movies. We also talked about her years as a child actor, which saw her playing Anthony Hopkins daughter in the film Surviving Picasso, and her hugely successful career since then, starring in TV shows like Archie, The Life Story, of Carrie Grant, Waterloo Road, and the critically acclaimed BBC series, This City is ours. And naturally, I also wanted to know all about her role on Gavin and Stacey and the level of secrecy involved in her appearance. She even kept it from her parents and filmed their reaction watching her suddenly appear on Christmas Day, which went totally viral, much to her

mum's horror when she realised she wasn't wearing a bra. Laura also told me all about her exciting new play, starring alongside Michelle Dockery called Bloodsport After Helen of Troy. It's a reimagining of the Helen of Troy myth set in the present day. There's already a huge buzz about it, so do make sure to book your tickets now. As it's selling out fast, it's on at Stratford East from September the 3rd through to October the 10th, and you can book via strafford East.com. Ray and I had such a lovely stroll with Laura because she's just an incredibly joyful person to spend time with. And when you throw in the added bonus of getting to constantly hear her say things like,

Eric Cantonar, stop licking me. Eric Cantonar, don't do a poo there. Frankly, I couldn't have dreamt of a more perfect morning. Really hope you enjoy our chat. Here's Laura and Eric Cantonar and Ray Ray. He's making a bit of a show of himself. Is he? I mean, look at that.

He's really... Is Eric Cantonanard drooling? He's really drooling. We should say, if anyone's a bit confused as to why we're speaking in a frankly abusive way about Eric Kansom. I'm dragging him around on a lead and he is drooling profusely. We are talking about Laura Eagman's dog. Not the footballer, poet, singer. No.

Mustn't forget he's a triple threat. He is. Eric's not a triple threat. He's not got a lot. He's not got a lot going on in the entertainment department. I think Eric Cantonar, he's aged very well. Stunning. I think Eric Cantonnell, the man's aged very well.

So do I. Oh, sorry, I thought you said unlike. I was like, no, no, no. I said, where are we going across? Yeah, let's go over there. Oh, Laura. Oh, we're pooing. Eric Cantonar is pooing.

Eric Cantonar is not pooing. Do you want to use that as the trailer? That sounds like the sort of art house film he'd do. Have you seen that film looking for Eric? Oh, yeah. I haven't seen that. It's actually very good. Is it good?

It's really good yet. My husband's a Manu fan, which is why the dog is Eric Kansner. So this is what I was going to assume. And Eric's French. That would be very weird if, oh yeah, French Bulldog. That's really clever. It was Eric Kansanar or Jean-Pierre and we thought that was a bit of a mouthful. Well, do you know what?

I'm a big fan of a dog with a surname. It's quite embarrassing in the vet. And the surprising amount of people who work in the vet, because they say the full name, because I assume they think it's our surname. Oh. So they'll come out and go, Eric. But a surprising amount of people that work in the vet have never heard of Eric Cantonar. So they say the name wrong and stuff.

And I thought everyone would know her. What's happening now, Emily? I've just seen some dangleberries. Dangle poo. And I don't like to leave any blue. No, we don't want to leave them in the... Ray, does you've got some dangleberries? No, I do the same myself.

Orcombe. No one wants a dangleberry. That'd be a good dog's name. Yes, I find it in the vet. They'll say Raymond Dean. And I'm like, a bit weird. It's a bit weird. I don't really think of having my surname.

Come on, let's cross the road. We should say Laura and I have met super early this morning. Well, it's not early for Laura, it is for us. Because you wanted to, did you want to come out early doors with Eric? Well, because of the heat, yes. He's a French bulldog, so they don't do well in the heat. But also, I've got to be at rehearsals at 10. Exactly.

And we're going to talk about that, because this is this very exciting. very exciting play you're doing. Yeah, terrifying. I don't know what I'm doing. Are you happy for me to take Eric off the lead? Of course. He's probably going to do it as shit now. Oh, no, they're okay.

Oh, Eric's done a wee-wee. Just a little wee. He whee's very delicately like a girl, you'll notice. I would take Ray off the lead. We'll give it a go, but he's so slow. Oh, you've got to do a little encouragement. I wonder. I mean, he might just stop every five minutes like this.

Although Eric Cantonoff seems oddly similar. Oh, I mean, Eric's like, well, do a lot of drop and roll he'll eat quite a lot of duck poo because we're near the pond oh good we can have one of those walks i mean what's he looking now duck poo great brilliant oh eric you're eating duck poo stunning you're coming to rehearsals today we don't need duck poo breaths Eric that's disgusting actually first thing this morning i've got an intimacy session and then a fight training session so eric i think most dogs would not want to see their you know sort of I don't want to say mother, but like caregiver, just getting off with someone and then being beaten up by someone, he won't care at all.

Look at them. They look quite cute together, Laura. They're a funny little duo Eric and Ray, aren't they? I wish we could take. Can we take some pictures? They look so cute together. Eric. The thing is, as soon as I open my zip to get my camera out, he thinks he's getting a treat so he'll start running. Oh. Eric and Ray. Yay. Good boy. I know. You're not having anything right now, mate. So, we need to get you to rehearsal soon. Yes. But I'm so thrilled you're doing this because I'm such a fan of yours.

It turns out I'm obsessed by pretty much everything you're in. And you must be the common denominator here. Yeah, surely it's because of me. It must be. I mean, I've been in some absolute trash. You just won't have seen it. Oh, I want to talk about that. So, talk me through Eric.

How long has he been in your life and how long... Is your partner called Matt? Yes, Matt, yeah. When did you decide to get him? Well, Matt had wanted a dog for ages and he was doing this thing of like every night we'd be sat on the sofa and he'd sort of stroke nothing in between us and be like, imagine if there was a dog here now.

Imagine if there was a dog here now. And I, we're both a bit commitment-phobic. We never wanted children. I was a bit like, it seems like a big commitment. Yeah. But then I, for his birthday, I surprised him with a puppy. So we've had Eric since he was a puppy. Was he really thrilled?

Oh my God, yeah. At first, and then he was like, what have we done? I mean, Ray's literally just joined another family. You were saying earlier, was we okay with other people. Look at him, Laura. He's just gone and sat down at a bed with the family. But he's sitting there like he sit waiting to take his official portrait. Ray, you can't just join people's families.

awfully rude. He's running away from me. He's not really rude, please. Come on, I'm so sorry. Raymond, it's terribly rude. Ray thinks it's time for the bench sit portion of the podcast.

He's such a weird little dog. Oh, Ray, mate. I know. This is why he can't have him off. This is why he can't have nice things, Ray, like being awfully. So. Oh, so yeah, so he was a surprise.

So we, at first, We, he was incredibly cute, but I did get him from a breeder, which I would never get a puppy again. Yeah. But he was a lot. We found it a lot. And now we were really grateful to people that came up to us and were like, are you okay? When we had a puppy, because we weren't really. Did you get Ray when he was a pup?

Yeah. He was, and you're absolutely right in that no one really kind of prepares you for it. I know. And it's hard to talk about because you feel a bit pathetic. because other people have actual humans they're raising and you're going but the dog was up seven times in the night yeah but i think the difference is that you know it will end at some point with the child yeah they're able to communicate and understand you i think with the dog because you never really can understand when they're in pain yes yeah yeah yeah i think that's really horrible it's like an

eternal childhood however you can leave a dog at home for six hours and that is more frowned upon with a child yes not not if you're my parents but that's another story. Talking of parents I want to talk about your childhood because I'm really interested in your childhood. Because it's mental. Well mine was a bit mental so I like it. So you grew up was it sort of Hartfordshire? It's a I always say in between, I'll always say Harrow or Watford and then it sounds like I know nothing about where I'm from because I'm from Northwood which no one's ever heard of. Yeah. It's on the tube. Got it's like a really like

don't want to sag it off but it is just a really boring suburb in Zone 6. Got it. But my parents of Londoners and they moved out to get a house for when we were kids. And it was, do you have a brother or? Yeah, I've got an older brother, Luke. Yeah. And your parents, your dad, and this is my favourite thing about you ever, was a stuntman, is that right?

Yeah, that's right, yeah. And he was an alien. He was. He was inside the mum. other alien with another stunt guy Malcolm Weaver. Is that amazing? Yeah, I mean, how weird. So like the queen, is it called the queen alien?

I think it's the queen alien. Yes, they were both inside the sort of carcass of it, controlling it. Which I don't really know why it was a stunt person and not a special effects person. But I suppose this was pre-CGI really as well. Yeah, and I think it was at just a different time in the film industry. I mean, like, I can remember all of the health and safety stuff coming in when we were kids and my dad being like, ugh. Because when we were little, like... Your dad reacting like sort of reform, oh God.

Yeah, oh, here we go. Yeah, like when we were kids and he was sort of learning, like one of his other stunt friends would come and like into the cul-de-sac and drive the car at him and they'd take turns of sort of getting hit by it and figuring out how to, like it wasn't what it is now, yeah. Were you quite frightened when you would see that? No, I mean, that was just normal to me. The friend would drive the car at him.

Yeah, they would do stupid stuff. And maybe that's something they did to entertain us. I don't even know if that was real or not. But my dad's a maniac. I love that. And your mum was an actor. Yes. Yeah.

I mean, really, I think we ruined it. When she married my dad, she was doing No Sex Pleas. We're British in the West End. Oh, that was huge. Yeah. That was really big. And then... It was on...

Where was it? It was not me. It was on that theatre on the corner for years. I remember... That was like an institution. it was like the mousetrap or something yeah i think it was on for ages um but then it's sort of you know she sort of did episodes of bits and bops but mainly she focused on us and she still works she's a she does beautician stuff from home they're both absolute grafters um but i think yeah we sort of

we sort of ruined her career now i had a similar thing with my mom yeah because your mum's an actress right well she's an active and then she would say i gave my best years of my life for you like in a very dramatic sort of head of garbler way while smoking a cigarette yeah and you're like well i I didn't ask for it. Well, my sister used to go, what do you want to receive? Which I kind of loved. So I'm imagining probably similar childhoods in some way in that there is a level of from the outside.

It just seemed normal to me that it was a bit weird and weird actors coming around. And to everyone else, it seems a bit sort of crazy and bohemian and chaotic. But how would you describe your, let's go away from these silly, noisy men. Should we go there? Oh yeah, around there, yeah.

How would you describe? your childhood, the sort of energy in your home when you were growing up? Lots of energy. Yeah. A bit frantic at times. Highs and nose, I would say. Yeah. Yeah, and I think, you know, yeah, it prepared me as well well for like earning money and then not working and all that kind of stuff I think was less of a shock to me because I knew what it was like already kind of thing. and they were quite glamorous at times you know they would go out and they were you know they would go out and get pissed and have fun which I think is

great and they still I mean they still can't get pissed and have fun so I think they were always sort of fully rounded people away from us in a way yeah yeah yeah and did you have any animals growing up

Did I? Yes, we had all sort, we had rabbits and guinea pigs. I really wanted a dog. My dad when I got Eric found this letter that I'd written to Santa. It turns out there were a lot of them asking for puppies and we never got one. Why wouldn't they go to have the dog? I think they couldn't be asked. That's like my peril. My mum, I used to go, because she used to get up so late, you know, and I'd say, well, please can we get a dog? And she said, but who's going to walk it? Do you have to get up early? Yeah. And in truth, we probably wouldn't have. herself of that possibility because she got off at about 11. Oh my god so who took you to school? It's sort of dependent. I mean she would my dad that was the one thing he had to do because she just couldn't you know she was like I didn't become an actress to have my morning. Yeah. Oh because was she so did she mainly do theatre. She did theatre and she did like quite a lot of understudying.

So she'd do something like that. Do you know what I realised is I got older a lot. I think what she liked was being in that cast camaraderie thing. Yeah. She loved being backstage, you know. I think that's a big part of it actually. It's like deciding you want to do it is actually the people maybe as much as the job. And so your dad, tell me some other things he worked on because he was on alien. He did, like, Bond films did he did like Octopsy and he did, yeah, loads of stuff like that.

And then as we were sort of teenagers, then he, he, he, he, he was really little. went and did casualty and then Emma Dale for years and years. I think just to sort of be a bit closer to time and have some more consistency. And on things like that, the sort of stunts that he's doing, presumably they're quite dangerous some of them are they? I guess they are. I never much thought. I can remember watching an episode of 999. Do you remember 999? Yeah. Please emergency. Yeah. And I was in the kitchen and watching it on the telly and a guy fell from like a really high telephone pole and it was my dad and I like you could see his face and stuff when he was at the top and then he falls right down to the bottom of the pole and I

was like so confused and I ran into the living room and he was taking a hammer to the VCR in the living room at the time and I was like you're in there but you're in there potentially dead so I think that was the first time I kind of wrapped my head around and I can remember it but yeah I think my mum was probably worried for I think more worrying than the stunts actually was that he used to drive like like drive to work a stupid o'clock in the morning and then drive home like down the motorway. And he always used to fall asleep on the motorway. There was a real time where my mum would be like he's going to die from falling asleep on the motorway.

And did he ever have any serious injuries? Yeah, he's broken everything. He's broken his back. He broke his, yeah, he's broken one of his hands in so many places. He's had both knees replaced. Yeah, I mean, he's wrecked. And does it come a point with us on? career where you have to sort of say, look, you become, so you progress from being a stunt performer to a stunt coordinator, yeah, so you, you don't do it anymore, basically. You sort of tell

other people what to do and bring their crash mats. Yeah. I mean, it's more, it's very much more impressive than that. I made that sound crap. But, um, so yeah, so you kind of, you age out of it, I suppose. Yeah, because it is a high risk job in some ways, isn't it? Come here, Ray. Definitely. What's such of a... Sorry, what were you going to say? I sort of thought about it at times when I was out of work in my early 20s. Really? You have to train in seven different disciplines.

It's very expensive to train. And it is a certain type of person. When you meet stunt people, there are a certain type of person. I don't think I had the right, I don't think I was the right kind of person for it. Yeah. It's quite in a sort of adrenaline junkie type. Yeah.

And then also you've... got to be like really safety conscious at the same time and really calm for the cast and you know you're wearing a lot of hats i think yes let's go and sit here should we take our picture here will eric will be delighted with a little sit down let's have a little sit down so i want to get a sense of you as a kid because you come from this slightly sort of unconventional background in some ways with performers. Yeah. And what are you like?

Are you quiet? Are you extrovert? I think I was shy compared to everyone else in my house. But that did not make me a shy person. Right. And I think I was shy out and about for a long time. But then went to drama club and my mum had us in dance clubs as well, which I think I liked when I was little and then I really didn't like.

What was that? I don't know. I don't... I think all of the leotards of it all and the... It just wasn't me. Yeah. And my brother worked a little bit as an actor when we were kids. We both did. And then I sort of went off it.

I didn't want my hairbrush. I didn't want to get my pictures taken. You were quite a successful child actor, weren't you? You were in surviving Picasso. Oh, yeah. I did a film with Anthony Hopkins. And I was about 10 or 11. Yeah, I played one of his kids, which was he was lovely.

Was he? I was going to ask what he was like. Was that quite scary, though? Or were you just not aware of who he was? Right. Yeah, at one point, we had a scene together where we were walking down a beach and I had an ice cream and he licked the ice cream and gave it back to me

and I was like, no, mate. And my mum was like, if he licks the ice cream, you just lick the ice cream, you just do whatever. She said something gross about looking whatever he licked, which I think is inappropriate. But she was like, it's Anthony Hopkins. And I was like, it's just some old guy. Yeah.

But he was amazing and he would like play with me at lunchtime. time and you know not he wouldn't eat in his trailer he would always be out with all of us so yeah that was cool but and i got to fly first class to France which remains the only time i've ever flown first class um but you know what i was a i did i was a child actor and again similar background in some ways it didn't it just felt the norm to me it was just normal for my parents they were like oh we went to this drama school called annes shows and they were like oh go to annas and then you get offered work and there was nothing odd about it no no no I think, uh-oh.

Uh-oh. Eric Canton. Eric's just chased. What are they? He's chased a load of, is it geese? Do you know what? Geese aren't the nicest. I won't lie.

I know. And I don't know if it's true, but you know when in primary school, everyone tells you that the swans can break your arm. It always just still makes me paranoid. Yeah, I also have swans as a sort of school bully. Yeah, like, they're hissing. Maybe I should put them on the lead. Yeah, so it doesn't seem odd. Yeah, it didn't seem odd.

It's funny. I would say when you talk about the first class thing, I can remember something. I did a TV show called Dare the Triffitz and I can remember coming back from that experience because it was the first one where I was sort of a relatively named. Do you know what I mean? I was like, had my own trailer and this, that and the other. I do remember coming back and feeling was crashing low. Oh really?

When I returned to normal life. And no one's constantly bringing you things. Yeah, a little bit. it like God isn't life boring outside of this. Oh yeah. And that's why sometimes with child actors, I think it's something you've got to be so careful of. If you've got to be able to the business who understand it,

it helps I think. But my dad's got a really, well, both of them, but my dad particularly is, he was very strict and he had like a very strong work ethic. So we were never going to get away with any, any diva behaviour. But I can remember like coming back from that and having enough podiums left to take my brother and my for his birthday to Planet Hollywood. And like, stuff like that was sort of exciting.

But I just really went off it. Did you? My brother did fever pitch with Colin Firth. Yeah, and I met Colin Firth. I was only like 12 and I was like, Hubber, Hubber. Maybe I will try again. So did your brother have quite a big part in that? Yes, yeah, he did.

He's great in it. But my brother is now an entrepreneur. He like runs his own companies and my brother's more like my dad of like he would hate to be told what to do and what to say and stuff So this life was not for him because that's all we get told But it's funny you saying about being a kid because with the people in the play that I'm doing now It's my first play and a lot of the younger ones haven't done a lot of telly and they were all saying to me They go, you must feel really comfortable on a set because I was saying how uncomfortable I felt in the rehearsal room And I yeah, I was oh yeah of course like a set you

Yeah, it's home. Yes, it just feels. But I'd never really thought about it. Yeah. I can see that. And then you can see how intimidating. Then thinking about it properly, I was like, oh, I can see how intimidating it would be

to not know what all of these people do when you arrive on a set because there's like 60 people there, all with different jobs. And it even feel like there's a certain lingo as well that it just, because I would hear that language when I was younger, at first AD or whatever. it just felt normal. Yeah. Whereas coming into that, I can see you're absolutely right.

It's like a whole industry language. Yeah, and you're already nervous and you've already got your lines to learn and all that stuff. And then some people are saying random words into a walkie-talkie that you don't know what they mean. Yeah, it must be really intimidating. Well, I think that was really well. On that episode of Inside Number 9,

which is that one where Rue Shearsmith plays the actor, playing the policeman. Is this the one where they have the caravan, Oh, don't. It's so creepy. Oh my God, it's so good. But I think that's... Davin Lipps and that, I think, is so good. It's shown really well in that is how you feel,

even though he's turned up that character as, you know, it's this big moment, he's an actor, and how he feels so insignificant and dismissed on that show, like even, you know, the way he's being sort of dismissed by those production people. I think it is still really hard going to do a guest of something. When there's a load of people that are there all day, every day, and you're popping in to do a couple of scenes and everyone else is a family, I think it's still really one of the hardest things to go and be a guest on something. You're quite charming, though, so I think, I do think, you know what, an energy is really important, particularly on things like film and movie sets. Yeah, I think there is also... You've got to be easy to get a long way.

Easy to get along with and kind of know your place a little bit as well. Like, I think you can get it really wrong. And you need to be, especially if you're working with high profile people, you need to kind of know where you fit in that and know when to just be quiet and keep yourself and when it's appropriate for you to sort of be a part of the action. You've got to know when to be quiet, Ray, I don't think we can do that. Ray's silent. Oh my, my God. Babe. Can you make that the trailer? He does sort of...

He does sort of... He does sort of... Oh no. blowing in the wind, wonderful. He does pick things up with the drawl. It's quite sticky. I've got too many things. Eric Antenar. Can you see the leaf? You can't really see. It's like you know when J-Lo has the wind blower in the face and our hair's going, the leaf's going in the wind. Eric, you've got a leaf hanging off your drool darling. Eric. Eric, there's a leaf on your drawl, darling. Will I remove it? Oh, we've got it captured.

No, come on. He's old, guys. He's old. So having initially sort of thought it's not for you, having been a child actor, at what point did you decide actually this is for me? I got off at this Saturday morning show with quite a confusing concept, but called The Misty Show, and it would mean that I had to leave and not do my air levels. And it was like eight months.

Were you at Haberdushes? Yeah, for secondary. I was at Haber. yeah. That's a really good school, isn't that where David Badeel went to school? I don't know. He did. He went to Habbardashers. Lots of people went there and Sasha Bairn and Cohn. Is it next to her? Is it next to each other? So you do some stuff together, like drama, actually. So that was also a big reason to get back into it. Well, Matt Lucas, I think, went there, Sasha Barenkeh and David Badele. So that's quite an academic school, isn't it? Yeah, it is. And so I had to,

And, you know, my parents sort of part paid for it, but also we were on assisted places. Right. When that existed. But we, but they even though they, you know, put all of this into our education, they were really cool about it. They were like, if you want to go and be in the TV show, then quit. And did you, do you think, were you academic at all? Or do you think? Yeah, I was.

Yeah, I was. I did, you know, well with my GCSEs and stuff. And then I left and my head teacher said to me, you should do what you love, not what you're good at, which I found really funny because I thought it was sort of her saying that I wasn't that good of an actor. Yeah, that is a little bit shady. But I think what she was trying to say is like you are academic,

but if you're not into it, then just go. And that's how I'm choosing to take it anyway. But that shows something a bit single-minded. I think I would have probably wanted to do that, but would have been too frightened to tell you. tell my parents that. Yeah. Because that's a big call to make to walk away from your A-level.

I've always been very single-minded in decision-making. Yeah, yeah. Sort of quietly, I'll make a decision, and then that's my decision. I'm not really interested in what anyone else thinks. I know, it's terrible, isn't it? No, it's a great quality to have, don't you think? Well, I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know what it's like for people in relationships with me. Yeah, I think you know where you stand with people like that, though. Yeah, yeah. One thing I would say is that you never with people, I like people who kind of, this is my position on it and it may not be the one you like, but it is nevertheless my position on it. And of course if it's a decision that affects me and Matt then it's not just my decision. But if I need to make a decision about something, I can make it quite quickly and I'd be quite strong in whatever that decision. I make decisions.

We've just renovated our house and I make decisions very fast and Matt thinks about things longer. And there's merits to both. Yes, I see that. So you decided you did this kids TV show. Yes. And how old were you then, sort of 17 or something? Yeah, yeah. And then...

Come on, we're going to sit down soon, Eric. So that was it, really. Once you've done that kid show, you're like, right. I didn't have any qualifications, so there was a much choice in the matter. And then it, you know, sort of like, I did loads of jobs, obviously, to fund the not working. So your acting career, I mean, you started off doing, you're one of those actors who did everything, like, done a bit of casualty. Yeah, like, yeah. Oh, I did, I did casualty as a kid, and then I did a year in casualty when I was in my early 20s. I've done the bill. You know, I've ticked all the, all the must-dos off, for sure.

A lot of people these days, of course, I'm going to have to. mention it, know you best from Gavin and Stacey. Yeah. Because that was huge that role for you, wasn't it? Yeah, it was. I mean, the first time we did it, it came out and then COVID happened. So it didn't really move the needle kind of thing. And also I was in a lot afterwards. So I didn't get recognised and it was quite relaxed the whole thing. But then the second time it felt a bit more major and I think also because of all the secrecy around me being in it the second time it sort of it hit a bit harder I think the second time because your appearance was a big was a reveal essentially wasn't it? Yes very disappointing for the audience yeah because we see him at walking up the

into the church yeah and you're hoping it's going to be oh is he's doing the um the wedding registry shop in john lewis and you're hoping it's going to be nessa of course and there's no way nessa would be in John Lewis doing a wedding registry. Come on. And you had to keep that super secret even from your family. Yeah. And you put a brilliant video on social media. Yeah.

Where you're watching that episode. Yes, Christmas Day, sat in my house with my family watching the episode. And I didn't tell them. So I filmed the moment that I turn around and my mum's like, and my dad and my brother are just completely silent. And wasn't your mom's react, didn't she have a reaction to you posting that? video she said something like I wasn't even wearing a bra oh yes she did yes she was like I was I'm wearing a bra laura but she was delighted

because it did go viral and then it was in the paper and everything and how did it feel being part of something like that where it as you say you use the expression of the needle it's suddenly you're much more recognisable how did you feel about that um I was it overwhelming at all no I I still I think I don't know whether this is fair or not, but I think you kind of get noticed as much as you want to get noticed

to a certain extent. Do you know what I mean? I think, you know, people come up to me sometimes but I think you can move around in a low-key way I can get on the tube and everything and 99% of the time no one looks at me. Yeah. So that just might be because I'm not, you know,

I'm not that recognisable, but like, I always remember We went to a friend's wedding and there was a couple of actors in the group, including Ben Wishaw. And I had organised the travel not really thinking about it. And we got on trains through France and like buses and stuff. And Ben carries himself in such a way and he's so low-key that he didn't get recognised once. I do think there's something about people's energy where some people are looked at more than other people. And I'm not one of those people and I feel very good about that.

Do you know what you mean? I do know what you mean where sometimes I think if you wear mirrored aviator shades and a baseball cap on the tube I don't want to be seen I don't yeah you're constantly looking around yeah it's like well if you're desperate not to be recognised that probably indicates that maybe that's a bit of a crap disguise but yeah I was you were so good in that role Oh, thanks. I mean, what like a joy to be able to be in it and what a funny bunch of people. I couldn't believe my luck. I really couldn't believe my luck. Did it change your life in terms of suddenly did your agent's phone start ringing a lot more?

It's really hard to say because it's sort of, I think maybe the first one, but then also it came around the same time as did this thing Archie and... And we should say this thing, Archie, which I absolutely loved, which is a show. that you did for ITV. Yeah, with Jason Isaacs, him playing Carrie Grant and I play his wife, Diane Cannon in it. And although that show didn't kind of land as well as, I don't

think as many people watched it as we would all have liked to have watched it. It was the first time I was really, in like 10 years that I'd been like a leading lady in a drama. So I think that sort of shifted things a tiny bit for me. I do think as well it's like your tapes just get you know now we're self-tapping rather than going into

auditions and meeting people which is so rough. Is it a cringed self-tapping? It's fine but it's like you're not developing a relationship with a casting director or a director you don't even know if you're taped getting watched. Do you have to go, hello, my name is Laura Aikman. You do for a commercial and then show both sides of your palms and both sides of your profile in case you've got like sneaky massive nose that they can't see on the thing or tattoos on your hands which they can't.

using commercials but I think that my tapes were being watched maybe or paid attention to more than they were before but yeah I I don't know it might all stop that might be so terrible in this play that no one ever cast me in anything again I really hope you love part one of this week's Walking the Dog if you want to hear the second part of our chat it'll be out on Thursday so whatever you do don't miss it and remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week.