Coronation Street's Tina O'Brien asked if she's 'on the telly' as coffee with pal prompted personal venture

Coronation Street star Tina O'Brien has told how her drama students sometimes ask her if she's 'on the telly' as she told how a coffee with a pal prompted her very personal venture that recently left her 'in awe'.

The actress is best known for playing Sarah Platt in the ITV soap but Tina didn't join until the daughter of matriarch Gail Platt turned 12. The character was originally portrayed by then-babies Leah King and Lynsay King in 1987, when Sarah was born to Gail Platt and Brian Tilsley.

Sarah and her older brother Nick were later adopted by Martin Platt when he married Gail in 1991. Lynsay was kept in the role until Sarah turned 12 on-screen in 1999, which is when Tina, then 16, joined the cast and over the years she has faced a whole host of hard-hitting storylines and romantic drama.

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But away from her Weatherfield alter-ego, Tina is inspiring the next generation of local actors as she owns drama school, The Drama MOB. She launched the school in 2013 with her best friend Esther Morgan after Tina couldn’t find a suitable acting class for her daughter Scarlett, who was then aged three.

Since then the drama school has grown from strength to strength and Tina, who has been working in TV and theatre since she was 10, regularly teaches in the classes and offers one-to-one guidance and fellow director Esther, a former primary school teacher specialising in drama, manages The Drama MOB casting agency.

Having started with just seven students when they first launched, to now having over 400 across a broad age range means that the co-founders now also employ a team of eight specialist teachers and operate three successful sites across Greater Manchester, with a fourth location looking likely in the near future.

Among their growing list of successes also includes Freddie Henderson Xfeaturing on the famous John Lewis Christmas advert as a young Elton John, Ryan Mulvey recently starring as JJ Osborne in Hollyoaks, leading one of the show's biggest abuse storylines, and Maizie Wickson starring as a young Alma in BAFTA-winning Alma’s Not Normal.

"Never in a million years did I think that when Esther and I met for that coffee all those years ago to discuss possibly creating a drama school after struggling to find a good quality one for Scarlett, that we’d be in the position we are now 11 years down the line with students acting in huge productions and on the biggest streaming platforms around the world," Tina said.

"What started out as us both wanting to create a place our own children could learn to perform has now become a home to over 400 students and growing. When we launched our first class, we went around pushing leaflets through people’s doors and genuinely had no idea if anybody would even turn up. From those 7 students in 2013, we now offer 26 classes per week – and to take a step back and look at how far we’ve come is a really fulfilling feeling."

She went on: "I love working behind the scenes just as much as I enjoy my job as an actress in front of the camera. When it comes to the shows and productions I’m more like a crew member, I’m backstage with a radio herding our students getting everyone prepped and ready and making sure everything runs smoothly. When one of our students lands a big audition I’m on hand to support them with their self-tapes, giving them advice and guidance on how to get the best out of their performance."

And while many will recognise Tina everywhere she goes for her famous Corrie role, her students aren't always as aware. "Some of our students don’t even really know that I work on Coronation Street, because they’re so young it’s not really something they see – but every now and again word spreads across the classes and I’ll have different students coming up to me asking if I’m on the telly."

The 41-year-old continued: "“Not a day goes by at the moment where you can’t see or hear our students across the industry, whether they’re acting on a soap, being the voice for a commercial or starring in a feature film, we’re incredibly proud of every one of their achievements."

For more information on The Drama Mob and how to sign up for classes or apply for the agency, visit: thedramamob.com/and find them on Instagram @thedramamob