Cassidy Janson

Cassidy Janson starred in Avenue Q as Kate Monster and Lucy The Slut at the Giegud Theatre and The Wyndham's Theatre

Date of Birth
30th July 1980

Place of birth?
Victoria Hospital, High Barnet

Did you go to training school, if so which one?
London Studio Centre (2yrs), Millennium Dance (for graduation year), The Impulse Company (1 year Meisner Training).

Briefly tell us how you became involved with Avenue Q.
Auditioned for the role and got it!

Your first stage performance?
Aged 3 for a local ballet school in Barnet

Career highlight to date?
Either Tick Tick BOOM at the Menier Chocolate Factory or performing Elphaba in Wicked

What roles would you most like to play?
Anything that challenges me

What's the best advice you've ever received?
Nearly everything an acting coach Scott Williams has said to me.

What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?
Too many - one popular one is falling over onstage in Wicked in a clown suit

What is the most annoying part about your job?
Eating at strange times and missing out on special evenings out with your friends

If you had not become a performer, what might you have done instead?
I'm fascinated by nutrition, so maybe something to do with that.

Favourite after-show haunts
A bit clichéd - Groucho Club and The Ivy Club

Who are your favourite actors/actresses
Sandra Bullock, Jeffrey Rush, Jonny Depp, James Macavoy, David Tennant, Alison Janney, Emily Blunt, Cate Blanchet.

If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and what would you say to them?
I'd like to meet my Grandad, who died before I was born. From all the stories I've been told, we would have got on like a house on fire.

What was the last book you read, and name some of your favourite authors?
I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse collection at the moment. I also am partial to a Dean Koontz novel and the True Blood books.

What was the last film you saw, and name some of your favourite movies?
The last film I saw was I've Loved You So Long - an amazing performance from Kristen Scott Thomas. Favourite movies - The Princess Bride, Up and Clue.

Favourite TV programs?
Being Human, True Blood, Grey's Anatomy, Alley Macbeal, The West Wing

Favourite holiday destinations?
Kerala in India, and I'm hoping Cape Town - I have a trip planned in April!!

Do you have any hobbies?
I used to cycle like a maniac, but I've calmed down recently. I train with a boxer once a week, who destroys me and 4 other Westenders!!

Do you have any superstitions?
No - just to stay positive and optimistic

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
Cheese, wine and chocolate

What are your future plans?
To keep working as an actress and to keep an open mind. The future is never what you think it's going to be, so I try not to plan too much.

(Avenue Q photo by Seamus Ryan)