5 minutes with: Julie Legrand – 'I went from walk-on to leading part in two months'

I’d not been out of college very long when I joined the National as an understudy. At that point I didn’t have an agent, so I went to the casting department and just said "hello, here I am!" I had no one to speak for me, but just asked them to consider me. Lo and behold, six weeks later I was put up to play one of the leads in Way Upstream, and got the part. I went from walk-on at the National to leading part in the space of two months. It was fantastic, really really exciting.

The Rivals is essentially about love and the madness that people get themselves involved with. Lydia's very wealthy and she’s been reading a lot of novels in which the girls are eloping. It’s all very romantic. Captain Jack Absolute cottoned on to that and pretends to be this penniless chap so they can run off. I play her guardian Mrs Malaprop who realises what's going on and is appalled at the prospect. At the time, having aristocratic blood was everything. Mrs Maloprop is desperate that Lydia must marry well. Captain Jack is a perfect match but she doesn’t realise that they’re one and the same.

One of the delights is the fact that the audience have more pieces of the jigsaw than I do. They take delight in being completely flummoxed by what is going on. I have a great time playing it. She’s one of those people who’s got hold of a dictionary and vows to learn five new words a day. She just spouts them out willy-nilly whether they’re appropriate or not. She’s misquoting Shakespeare, but at least she’s trying. She’s a joy.

It was a real delight to be a part of Wicked as Madame Morrible. It’s the longest job I’ve ever done, but it really didn’t feel like it. I was very lucky. The standard is incredible when you're surronded by really amazing singers – Rachel Tucker and Louise Dearman were my Elphaba and Glinda. The impact that musical has on people of all ages who come again and again is wonderful. You really feel like you're giving people a really good night out.

Some people have a checklist of parts they want to play, but I don’t. You never know what’s going to come round the corner. If you have this list and you don’t get to tick it all off, then it will lead to disappointment. I’m much more excited by the unknown.

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The Rivals runs at Bristol on 14 September until 1 October before touring to Liverpool and Glasgow.