Culcheth can now claim a little bit of Weatherfield glamour, as former Culcheth High School pupil Savanna Pennington makes her mark on Coronation Street.
The 12-year-old actress and elite gymnast, who began training at The Wire Gymnastics Club in Warrington, is one of the soap's newest cast members. She plays Joanie Michaelis, the daughter of Mick and Lou, and has already found herself at the centre of a particularly turbulent storyline.
Savanna was invited to record and submit a self-tape for the ITV soap in November. After progressing through the audition process until January, she was told she had secured the role. Filming began in March, with her first episode airing in May. By television standards, that is a remarkably efficient journey from local talent to the cobbles, although soapland does have a habit of throwing people straight into emotional turmoil.
“It’s been a whirlwind six months,” said Savanna’s mum, Adele. “It was a really long process. She started filming in March and then in May her first episode aired. It’s still all a bit of a pinch me moment.”
Savanna has been acting since she was four, and comes from a family of Coronation Street fans. Her first episode was celebrated with a watch party involving friends and family, who have continued to follow every episode since. That is commitment, although there may now be rather more scrutiny of the family viewing schedule than there was before.
Joanie's storyline has been emotionally demanding, with both of her parents in prison. Adele said the family did not know the full storyline during the audition process, and praised Savanna for taking the role seriously and researching the character despite having no personal experience of anything similar.
“It’s emotional to see her act like that, but I’m also very proud of her to see the way she’s dealing with it all,” said Adele. “She’s taking it very seriously; she did her own bit of research on the role to get into character because she’s not experienced anything like it in her own life.”
Adele also praised Coronation Street and ITV for supporting the family. When Savanna is on set, Adele attends as her chaperone, while Savanna receives tutoring to keep up with her education. She is now home-schooled, giving her more time to balance acting with her gymnastics training.
“They’re amazing at ITV,” said Adele. “They make sure everything is as it should be when she gets to set. I couldn’t ask for anything else from them for Savanna.”
Savanna has been contracted to continue appearing in Coronation Street until at least March. She is already being recognised by viewers, including one fan who asked for a photograph at the airport after spotting her returning from holiday.
For someone who wants to become an actress, Savanna is getting an impressively early start. She clearly loves the attention, and with her acting, gymnastics and apparently formidable work ethic, this is one Culcheth success story that deserves its own prime-time spotlight.
Viewers can watch Savanna as Joanie Michaelis on Coronation Street on ITV or catch up on ITVX.