Ruth Jones: 'I wish I was more like Nessa'

Ruth Jones: 'I wish I was more like Nessa'
Ruth Jones: 'I wish I was more like Nessa' (Image credit: PA)

Ruth Jones has said she wishes she was more like her Gavin And Stacey character Nessa in real life. The 42-year-old actress - who co-writes the hit BBC comedy with James Corden - told The Daily Mirror she wishes she was as carefree and confident as Nessa. Ruth said: "There's very little of me in Nessa - I wish I was more like her." She continued: "I worry all the time about what people think of me, but Nessa doesn't care at all. If people don't like her, that's their problem! "People love her. Some see her merely as an old slapper, but I don't think she's that easy to define. "She's actually a very strong-minded person. She has a heart of gold and will always defend her friends in a fight. "And she has this self-assurance that's very attractive. Nessa's a huge enigma who has led this life you can't believe. "There's also this wisdom about her that people are drawn to. She's deeply philosophical, a Barry Buddha!" Ruth is seen in Jimmy McGovern's award-winning drama The Street with Timothy Spall on BBC this week - but she has said she's taking a break from acting for a bit. She joked: "I hate the thought of of people saying, 'Oh God, not her again!'. So now I'm going to be quiet for a bit. I'll emerge in a little while like a tortoise coming out of hibernation."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.