With new CBBC comedy series High Hoops premiering last month, Frankie-Jae Simmonds plays the regular character Nyla, working closely with Darci Hull (as Aoife), Isha Kaur (as Zara), Ella Summer (as Charlotte) and Robert Webb (as Mr. Holt). Frankie-Jae attended the recent BAFTA screening event, and all episodes of the series – which follows the life of basketball player Aoife and the basketball team – can be seen on BBC iPlayer, and it has been announced a Series 2 will film in summer. Further screen work for Frankie-Jae include playing Miley Hodge in numerous episodes of Coronation Street, with Ellie Leach playing her on-screen mother Faye Windass, and being in the cast of feature films Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Walk Like a Panther. Also a voice actor, Frankie-Jae voiced Young Patricia in Behind the Scenes at the Museum for BBC Radio 4 and Skratch in MC Grammar: Rap Tales. Answering our questions, Frankie-Jae talks about filming as Nyla in CBBC’s High Hoops, her time as Miley Hodge in Coronation Street and having Ellie Leach play her on-screen mother Faye Windass.

What is Nyla like to play in High Hoops and how would you describe the character?

Nyla is a really fun character to play because she is the complete opposite to my personality.

She is the tough, hard nut one of the group, sometimes quite intimidating but it’s because she is really protective of her friends.

For those that haven’t seen High Hoops, can you say what the series is about and who do you think will enjoy watching it?

High Hoops is a comedy aimed at kids around primary school age and above. My nana and grandad even love it! It’s about Aoife who joins Midvale High and the girls not-so-great basketball team. We watch her as she fails at trying to be cool and lots of fun storylines along the way and friendships and high school.

How was it meeting the rest of the cast for the first time, and how is it filming with Darci Hull, Isha Kaur, Ella Bernstein and Robert Webb?

The first day was amazing because we had all met (Isha, Ella and Darci) throughout the audition process. So it was really exciting when we were all finally together and we could just enjoy it and get stuck in. We had our photos taken and got to try on all our costumes. We all just clicked straight away and had loads of fun, it was just like being with a group of friends I’d known for ages. Rob and Nigel (Boyle) are really funny and really fun to be around!

What is it like being part of a new CBBC comedy series as a regular character?

It’s really cool because there are so many storylines going on and it’s fun to see your character experience different things. Because I’m a regular character, it’s like being part of a big family as pretty much all the same people are there all the time. It’s also really cool because we get to miss school although we do have tutoring but it is more fun than being at school.

Can you tell us about your time attending the recent BAFTA screening event, and how has it been seeing the fan response to the release so far?

It was AMAZING going to BAFTA and seeing the show on the big screen with our family.

I loved seeing everyone’s reactions and since the show has come out, my younger friends from dancing have all watched it and I love hearing about what they think about all the characters.

Do you have any favourite highlights from your time filming as Nyla in Series 1 that you can share, and what are you looking forward to most for returning to set for the upcoming second series?

I’ve got to say that filming the whole series was fun from start to finish but I did really enjoy filming the theatre scenes in Dean Clough Mills in Halifax. The location was stunning. I also loved filming the paintballing scenes as well, we had such a laugh and just felt like a fun day out with friends.

I’m really excited to find out what the writers have done for Series 2, especially now they know all the characters more. One of the best parts of filming something like this is getting the scripts for the first time so I’m really looking forward to it happening soon. It’ll also be great to see if there are any new characters.

One of my favourite parts about being on set is the hair and makeup team. We spend a lot of time with them and they’re so nice. At the end of the last series, they made us all scrapbooks with keepsakes from our time on set and it was probably one of the nicest things I’ve ever been given.

How did you feel finding out you’d booked the role of Miley Hodge in Coronation Street and how familiar were you with the soap’s stories and characters before auditioning?

Finding out I’d booked Miley was an indescribable feeling. There is no better feeling than finding out you’ve booked a job but this one hit different. I was in London on another job at the time and we were just about to go to the theatre to see & Juliet. My agents had tricked me and my mum to think we were having a Zoom recall with the director. So it was crazy when everyone from Mark Jermin came on the call and told me I’d got the job! I’ve been brought up watching Corrie all my life so it was unbelievable to get a part. It’s still surreal now when I’m thinking about it. When we got the original audition script, my mum couldn’t believe it as she’d watched Miley being born on the show, which was just crazy.

How was it getting into character as Miley and how did you find the experience filming opposite Ellie Leach as your on-screen mother Faye Windass?

I enjoyed getting into character as I loved all of Miley’s wardrobe and hairstyles. I also loved being able to do a Canadian accent because I love doing different accents. I remember being in a scene with Mikey North, who plays Gary Windass, and it wasn’t until halfway through shooting the scene he realised that I was changing between my normal and Canadian accent between shots. He was like, “hang on, is that not your real accent!”.

Ellie Leach was just the nicest person ever. She made me feel so comfortable and we talked about loads of random things when we weren’t filming. I was really nervous when I first met her but the Corrie team got us to meet before we started shooting, which was nice and made it easier for the first day.

What was it like on set of a long-running soap opera and what do you feel you learnt from working on the show?

It was crazy at first because seeing it on TV is so different to seeing it in real life. It was such an experience seeing how much work goes on behind the scenes when all the public see is an hour on the TV.

It’s really fast-paced working on a soap, everything is really well-organised and structured and scenes take a lot less time to film.

They can be super long days though as you still have to do schoolwork in between. So sometimes you’ll spend a full morning filming but then have to do tutoring all afternoon to make sure you don’t miss school hours.

We understand you were part of the feature films Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Walk Like a Panther, what were both like to film?

I was only about five or six when I did Walk Like a Panther but it was one of the very first times I’d been on a set. All I remember from that is lots of big trailers!

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie was a brilliant day. We were part of the big party scene at the end and all day they had loads of entertainment and things going on, that was really, really fun! I loved the musical so it was really exciting being a small part of the film.

How different do you find recording voiceovers opposed to filming for screen, and can you tell us about some of your voiceover projects, which include the role of Young Patricia in Behind the Scenes at the Museum for BBC Radio 4 and MC Grammar: Rap Tales as Skratch?

I really enjoy doing voiceovers. I like how you can change a character or an emotion just with the tone or sound of your voice.

Rap Tales was loads of fun but quite hard as we were singing and rapping totally new songs. But it was great working on something completely different and the team were fab. And then playing Young Patricia was completely different but the team at the BBC were brilliant. That was the first time I’d ever done radio drama and I couldn’t believe that they had all the scenes set up like it was being filmed so it felt really real. We were doing a scene where we were meant to be eating fish and chips and we were literally all sat round a table with the wrappers and eating food whilst recording. I found it really interesting and something I’d love to do again.

How did you get into acting and did you always know you wanted to act professionally?

My sister did lots of supporting artist jobs and my mum was a chaperone when I was younger so I just ended up joining my sister’s drama school and kind of just fell into it at a young age. It wasn’t until I joined Mark Jermin and got Coronation Street that I started to take it seriously and realised it was an option to have as a career. It’s such a difficult industry to be in but I love the challenge.

Do you have any favourite films and TV shows to watch?

My favourite TV show is The Vampire Diaries and I also love the Twilight films (bit of a theme here, I know). I also really love Gavin & Stacey, I binge-watched the whole show just before Christmas ready for the final episode.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I dance in my spare time and spend a lot of weekends at dancing competitions. When I’m not doing that, I love spending time with my friends.

Do you have any upcoming acting roles that you can talk about and what are you hoping this year brings for your career?

I am just getting ready to start Series 2 of High Hoops so that is going to take up all of summer. After that, who knows, hopefully many more series of Hoops and some extras thrown in in between. I’d really love to do something gritty and serious where I can play a completely different character.

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