THE NEWEST star of Coronation Street has revealed she was 'working six days a week at Tesco' when she was offered her role.
Actress Sydney Mason was left utterly shocked when she was given life-changing news that she will become a soap star.
She's just 22-years-old and she joined Coronation Street to play Betsy, the 16-year-old daughter of police Detective Sergeant Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers).
Her character will have a key role within the storyline of the apparent murder of Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton).
When she landed the coveted role on the ITV show, she was working six days a week at her local branch of Tesco.
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Whilst she was absolutely delighted to have landed the role, her father was not as immediately convinced about her future.
She explained: "I went to Tesco and handed in my notice, then told my parents.
"My dad was like, ‘No, you shouldn’t have handed your notice in’. He asked me, ‘Are you sure? Have you signed the contract?’ He even said I wouldn’t get a reference from Tesco now.”
The new soap star also revealed the exact moment she recieved the news she was hired from the soap by her agent.
"I was with my flatmates, watching Pitch Perfect 3 – it was the opening credits. I said, ‘It’s going to be a no, so just keep watching’.
"Then my agent said, ‘Go hand in your notice!’ My flatmate picked me up and we just cried together. We didn’t finish Pitch Perfect."
Acting was not necessarily on the agenda for the young actress, as she admitted her other plans involved nature.
"Randomly, I wanted to be a zookeeper when I was younger," Sydney admitted.
"I didn’t really know anything about acting. I loved doing shows when I was a kid – I was shy but when I got on the stage, I loved it.
"I never knew it was a career and something you could go into, which sounds silly. But in sixth form, I had the most amazing drama teacher – who I owe everything to – so I thought, ‘Why not give it a shot?’"
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But knowing the industry, the blonde beauty admitted that she understands why her father was nervous about her career moves.
She admitted: "It can be worrying for parents, for someone to say they want to go into acting. It’s such an uncertain career."
But they are now her biggest fans as she explained: "They’re over the moon. I think I had my first little picture in a magazine and they bought 10 of them."
The new character does not represent the first time she tried to get on the cobbles as she initially auditioned twice for smaller roles.
But her luck soon changed as she explained: "Two weeks later, they called and asked if I wanted to audition for a series regular. I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be great!’
But it turns out that the process for getting onto the show is extensive and can last for several months.
"I got the audition through for Betsy in February. It was a two-month process… an initial self-tape and then a read-through and screen tests," she remarked.
"I didn’t know what I was doing but I was loving it. I just saw it as great experience – I didn’t take it I was going to get it."
Sydney only started work on the longest-running British soap just two months ago.
But as the action progresses, viewers will see her blackmailing villain Joel Deering (Calum Lill) who was behind Lauren's disappearance.
The corrupt lawyer had been secretly grooming her behind the back of his girlfriend Dee Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown).
Despite being the daughter of a senior Police officer, it seems she has an unusual backstory.
"Betsy’s been brought up by two female detectives but seems to have contempt for the law," the actress remarked.
"She lost her other mum when she was on duty so she has some disrespect for the career. But if she gets in trouble she’s, like, ‘Mum, you can get me out of it’.
She added: "There’s this sort of playfulness there… she’s a bit naive and thinks the law doesn’t apply to her.
"She’s like my alter ego. She’s so confident and so feisty. I’d have loved to have been that confident at her age."
