ACTRESS Amy Nuttall has been announced as taking the lead role of Emily Tallentire in the Octagon’s forthcoming production of The Hired Man.

The play is a moving exploration of Emily and John’s Tallentire’s relationship, from their passionate meeting through the chaos caused by the First World War and to its haunting end.

And Bolton-born Amy is thrilled to be working at her home town theatre, where she attended drama workshops as a child.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” she says when we meet for a chat in the Octagon’s cafe. “You have a little tick list in your head, and this was definitely on it.”

The 27-year-old is currently based in North London where she has been carving a name out for herself as a stage actress since leaving the cosy surroundings of Emmerdale, where she played the scheming Chloe Atkinson, in 2005.

She went on to earn rave reviews for her performance as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, with the Telegraph saying “she absolutely communicates the wayward, desperate essence of a young woman striving to have the time of her life in the quietly repressed knowledge that death may be just round the corner.“ In person, Amy has something of Sally Bowles about her — all Bambi eyes and constant fidgeting, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her toes on the table.

She is also considerably more talented than the average former soap actress, with a Classical Brit Nomination for her album Best Days and plaudits for her performances in Guys and Dolls, Boeing Boeing and Hotel Babylon, as well as Cabaret.

It seems she has shaken off the tag of “Chloe from Emmerdale” pretty convincingly, although Amy says that she still does occasionally get recognised for the role, most often when she comes home to the North.

“Being in London where it’s such a cosmopolitan city it doesn’t happen so often,” she says. “So sometimes when I come back up North and someone will recognise me it takes me a second to remember why.”

Nevertheless, she says she doesn’t regret for a moment having made a name for herself through soaps although she knows that no matter how many awards she wins or rave reviews she earns, some people will always see her as the Yorkshire maneater who broke up so many relationships in Emmerdale.

“I don’t think you can really shake it off,” she says. “You look at someone like Catherine Zeta-Jones — not that I’m comparing myself to her at all! — even though she’s gone to Hollywood and become a movie star and married Michael Douglas, over here people still remember her for the Darling Buds of May.”

The Hired Man is a return to musical theatre, although she is quick to point out that it’s not the sort of “musical” that viewers of reality TV shows like “I’d Do Anything” might be familiar with.

“The score is very beautiful — it’s very different to a lot of musicals out there, it’s quite folky,” she says.

“I’m not really into jazz hands and cheesy musicals — I like something that has got guts to it, that packs an emotional punch.”

The chance to work with the octagon’s Olivier-award winning new Artistic Director David Thacker was also a draw.

“I’d already heard so much about him, and there’s so much excitement about what he’s doing here,” she says. “As an actor you want to be pushed, and that’s exactly what he does.”

• The Hired Man runs from June 10 to July 3.