About Coral

Coral has been at the school for three years and is a trusted, if not particularly well-liked member of staff. Incredibly dedicated and hard-working, she likes everything just so. She looks out for the pupils-but on her own terms; she’s not particularly maternal or empathetic and tends to strategise in order to solve problems. Plus she’s a stickler for the rule book, expecting other staff to uphold rules and discipline as firmly as she does, which can often cause conflict.

Rachel Leskovac Q&A

Welcome to Waterloo Road! How does it feel to be a part of the show?

It feels really exciting to be part of Waterloo Road. When I first got the call to say I was successful in auditioning for the part of Coral Walker, I honestly felt so happy as this is a very different role for me and since day one, from when we first all got together through some workshops before the read through- it's just been incredible. Cameron and Lindsay have created a safe space for everyone to explore the characters and their relationships with each other - as the audience has to believe this is a world that has been existing already. There has to be a natural chemistry between the teachers as colleagues and also the different types of rapport they may have with the students. This creative freedom brings everyone together on a commonality which hopefully will transmit on screen.

Tell us about your character Coral?

I love playing Coral! Sometimes it feels very awkward being in her skin which is challenging. Coral Walker is a complex character who may come across quite stern but ultimately she’s very passionate about her job and wants the best for her students. In terms of her teaching style, I would say she's more old school and is less about how students are feeling and their emotions. She just wants to get the work done so that kind of lends itself to someone being a bit strict, someone who wants people to do the right thing, doesn't want any messing around, so she's quite controlling in some ways. She's quite a private person and I don't think she's well-liked by her students, although they do always know where they are with someone like Miss Walker, which is a good thing.

Coral has a big storyline straight from the beginning, how do we see her progress throughout the series? How do you think audiences will react to her?

So, without giving too much away, having read episode one, I was shocked and then I got a little bit worried about how she may be perceived, but I think the writers have done a really good job at gently progressing the storyline after episode one.

We see that internal struggle. She's more humanised and not just her in teacher mode. As this big event happens to her, it forces her to question herself and her actions - her interactions with staff. If you're going through an emotional time, whether it's traumatic or happy, it can really change your trajectory. I think that's what happens with Coral and hopefully, the audience will go along with her and see her journey.

Were there any standout moments from filming?

One of the episodes was particularly challenging for me, it's been quite a while in my body of work so far where I've had to really go into a dark place to draw out certain emotions for the character, which was tough, but in the best way, because as an actor, that's really what you want. You want these big juicy storylines as it can draw out different sides to the character that you didn't even know were there. As in life, we change through big emotional events. So yeah, I guess that was a standout moment for me. In terms of my performance as Coral, everyday stands out with amazing people - 100% cheesy but it's true. It's a really good place to work. So every day is a blessing.

Coral is Head of English at the school, was English one of your favourite subjects at school?

As an actor, you would have thought English would be up there but from very distant memory because it's about 6000 years ago, I actually didn't enjoy English literature, because the teacher wasn't very nice. I ended up dropping English literature as a result of that. What was my favourite subject was probably P.E and art. I loved arts or any kind of expression. At one point during careers advice - I considered being a P.E teacher when I grew up, and look what’s happened (Laughs).

What kind of pupil were you at school?

I think I was ‘good’. I was a ‘good’ student and didn’t cause any trouble. Obedient. Not like you see nowadays. It was very different back in my day, which I really like about Coral, she does get that kind of respect, which I remember from being in the classroom, you would never even dream of talking back to a teacher. Whereas now things have changed a little bit and they don't have as much power over them, which I suppose is the right thing as it can be an excuse for bullying behaviour.

I was one of those pupils, I did the work, I sort of floated around from friendship group to friendship group so I was a bit of a loner during my secondary school years. It's a really long time ago, so it's hard to remember exactly what it was actually like!