It’s always great to see one of our own do so well and that has been just the case for Bronagh Waugh. The Northern Irish actress is probably best-known to soap fans for playing Cheryl Brady in Hollyoaks, but has also made a name for herself as Sally-Ann Spector, wife to Jamie Dornan’s character Paul, in The Fall.

Bronagh managed to find the time to chat to us despite an increasingly packed schedule. She tells us: ‘I’ve got three different projects on the go at the moment and I’m only home for two weeks so it’s difficult to get it all in.

‘It’s fantastic to be so busy though, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If it’s not madness, I’m not happy.’

It was Cheryl Brady that made her a household name. The character made her debut on Hollyoaks Later as the former love interest of Malachy Fisher. Cheryl was so popular that she was promoted to a series regular on Hollyoaks.

Bronagh starred in the show for five years and told us that she had nothing but good memories of it: ‘I loved playing [Cheryl]. I guess what was so fantastic about her was she said everything that you wouldn’t dream of saying out loud. She had the balls to do exactly as she pleased and that made for a lot of really rich character choices and dress choices. It’s very freeing as an actor to play someone with no boundaries or limits.’

She continues: ‘I really enjoyed my time on that show and it provided me with so many opportunities – it really was what launched me in the UK. I’m incredibly grateful for that role and look back on my time there with such fondness. There were so many great people working on the show both behind the camera and in front, they were all like family.’

Naturally our conversation turned to the smash hit series, The Fall. In series one, her character was completely in the dark about her husband Paul’s murderous activities. ‘People would shout at me in the streets, how do you not know? But I would just ask them back, if it was your husband, would you know?’

Admittedly, yes, we could be somewhat blinded if our hubbie looked like Jamie Dornan.

She then told us about the difficulties of filming for the second series in which Sally-Ann finds out about Paul and miscarries from the stress of the situation. ‘It was harrowing. Mentally it was a very difficult place to be in and I found that year took its toll. It’s draining when you put so much into a show like that but that’s what I love about the job, immersing yourself in these roles. At the same time, in that series it was a very dark place and it took me a long time to shake off after we finished.

‘I was living in an apartment in Belfast which the studio put me up in for the production, which meant I was able to isolate myself. When playing these roles, it’s better to be by yourself because you’re just no craic. It’s such an awful place to be and it almost consumes you.

‘The writing is so beautiful but particularly the scene in the prison [when Sally-Ann miscarries], I found exhausting. We spent 14 hours that day in there and it was dark, I was crying, and to go through that moment of losing the baby in the prison was very upsetting. I hope I did it justice. It was a role I am very proud of. Certainly when I was finished that year I needed a break. I was cautious to make choices so that I wouldn’t be type cast and moved away from those types of roles.’

Bronagh sadly could not reveal anything about the new series of The Fall (‘I can’t say anything at all about series 3 but I hope you enjoy it!’) as everything is being kept so under wraps by BBC.

Her latest projects in the pipeline include popular US TV series Supernatural and a brand new show called Channel Zero, a horror which will also star Fiona Shaw and Paul Schneider. On top of all that, she's prepping for her first feature film and hopes to do more movies in the future: ‘I’m less of a commercial looking actor and I think indie and arthouse have more interesting stories to tell, so that’s an area I hope to look into more.’

Her short Heart Overheard, an Irish-Canadian co-produced short which she made with Dylan Townsend, will be heading out on the festival circuit shortly.