It’s a dream role says Carrie Hope Fletcher ahead of Calamity Jane's arrival in Lancashire

Carrie Hope Fletcher probably first came to public attention as the younger sister of McFly’s Tom Fletcher but the 32-year-old is very much a star in her own right.

Admittedly inspired by her brother’s early career moves, Carrie joined the same theatre school as Tom and aged seven, landed her first role as a young Eponine in Les Mis.

The mum of one has now become one of theatre's brightest stars, appearing in some of the biggest productions of recent years, not least Les Misérables and the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella - a role she originated.

For her latest role, Carrie, who is also well known as an internet personality and a best-selling author, is the leading lady in Calamity Jane which kicked off a nation tour this month and heads to the Blackpool Opera House between June 24 and June 28 (tickets available here).

Ahead of Carrie’s arrival in Lancashire, take a look at this exclusive interview in which she discusses all things Calamity Jane and her career...

What made you want to go for the role?

"My mum had always said I would be a good Calamity Jane and through the entirety of my adult career she has always said she would love to see my playing the part.

"It's her dream role for me. So I looked into it and listened to the songs and watched the movie starring Doris Day and fell in love with it. Doris is such an icon. Though I did have to prepare my mum not to get her hopes up as things do fall through and you never know what might happen."

How do you feel about the character now that you have got the role?

"I am relatively new to the whole world of Calamity Jane, but it’s a dream role in terms of her as a character. She is romantic lead, gets a great love story, has an amazing female friendship with Katie Brown and gets all the cracking, belty numbers. She ticks all of those boxes and it’s so wonderful she’s not just an ingenue or the soppy romantic or just a comedy character, she is all of it. Parts like that are really rare and she has been great fun to get to know."

How would you describe Calamity Jane?

"A gun-slinging, whip-cracking woman prone to making a few blunders and mistakes"

Can you explain how the show is about femininity?

"There are conversations between her and Wild Bill where he says 'Why can’t you be more feminine?

“She goes through a Cinderella story finding it, but ultimately ends up going back to who she is comfortable as, and being loved and accepted for it. And it's all hidden within this funny, farcical story."

Doris Day was so iconic in the role of Calamity Jane, is that daunting?

"I have a good mindset about the pressure that comes with that. You can’t please everyone as everyone has different versions of what they want the character to be. If you tried to please people, you would come up with this warped version that isn’t anyone’s dream version."

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"I feel like I have been entrusted with the role and I need to be the one to decide who this version of Calamity Jane is. And if people don’t like it, they don’t like it. But if they do, it means all the more."

How do you feel about your brother Tom following you into musical theatre?

"It has been amazing seeing Tom move into musical theatre.

"People who have been in the most recent workshops of Paddington [a musical Tom is working on] are good friends of mine, so it’s great to have our worlds merge like that."

Would you swap and follow him into the world of pop?

"I don’t think it’s on the cards anytime soon. I love theatre too much."

You’re also still very active online - with 500,000 Youtube subscribers and 600,000 Instagram followers- does that come with its challenges?

"There is no rulebook on social media, no rules, no one really knows what we are doing and what is okay and not okay. And for those inclined to say whatever they want it has never been easier. They never watch you read how their comments affect you - or see the conversations you have with your loved one about this thing they said to you.

"When I was in Heathers, someone in the cast logged on to their social media and saw this awful comment and it completely broke her. It made me look at myself and think 'Oh my god, I am so desensitised to it'. How horrible we have just learnt to live with it.

"There is a level of expecting it but there should never be any accepting it. You know there will be people who aren't your people and who have things to say about your appearance or performance but there should never be any tolerance of any behaviour like that. I got messages like that at 16 and they completely broke me."

What helped you through it back then?

"I remember [my mum] watching for signs of me getting negative comments, as when you are the sister of someone in a famous band, you are not just a 16-year-old with three followers you are a 16-year-old with links to this world-famous band and thousands of people follow you just because of who you are related to.

"It puts you in a very strange position. So my mum was good at saying 'That is enough, close the laptop and we will go for a walk'. My parents are the best people."

You can find out more about Carrie’s tour of Calamity Jane by checking out its website here.