The actor’s generosity was hailed by her co-star who explained why she enjoys such a close connection with Liverpool
Sheridan Smith was hailed by her The Cage co-star, Anton Bibby(Image: Getty Images)
Sheridan Smith’s generosity has been hailed by her The Cage co-star. The 44-year-old has reprised her connection with Liverpool for the new BBC crime thriller from Tony Schumacher.
Sheridan is originally from Lincolnshire, but forged a strong bond with the city when she portrayed Cilla Black in 2014 and the actor is regularly hailed as an honorary Scouser. The Cage was filmed in Liverpool last year and also features a cast of talented local actors. Anton Bibby plays Sheridan’s on screen son, Thomas, in the show and said Sheridan more than lived up to his expectations.
The 23-year-old from Wavertree told the ECHO in an exclusive interview: “She’s cut from the same cloth as us. She’s just down to earth, grounded as anything, dead normal.
“I always knew you could never fault her accent. But the thing is, being from Liverpool is not just an accent, is it? It’s a whole energy, it’s a persona. And this is why we get a bit upset sometimes when people who aren’t from Liverpool portray Scousers.
“I get that because it’s a whole essence. Sheridan doesn’t just have the accent and the right way of saying things, she’s got that attitude, that fire that the wonderful Martin Freeman [in The Responder] managed to capture as well.
“And you could feel that little bit of that bit of fire, which I think just makes it all the more believable.” The Cage marks Anton’s first major television role and he said couldn’t have had a better education than to work with someone of Sheridan’s stature.
The actor admitted he was immediately alleviated of any nerves when he made a “cheeky” request to meet up with Sheridan before filming took place. He said: “I’d rather not just meet her first time and pretend that I’ve been her son for 17 years.” So I asked, ‘Can have a coffee with her?’ Just being a bit cheeky. Literally half an hour later, I get a WhatsApp from Sheridan saying, ‘Hi babe, are you free tomorrow? We’ll catch up for a coffee.’
“Straight away, that was my first interaction and she was just so lovely. We both just felt dead normal together. And then from that point on, it wasn’t as overwhelming or as intense from that point.”
Anton Bibby spoke to the ECHO in an exclusive interview about The Cage(Image: 2026 THE CAGE © Element Pictures/BBC/Photographer James Stack)
Anton said the main thing he learned from Sheridan was being relaxed and present on set, as he said: “Her and [co-star] Michael [Socha] were great at that. They would literally just be laughing and having a chat with everyone and then they’d just be bang [in the scene]. They’d just do it.
“Yeah, so that was definitely something I took from them. Among a plethora of notebooks and squiggles that I’ve got there.”
The role in The Cage is a huge breakthrough for Anton as he said: “The job I did before The Cage was doing pantomimes around schools in York, carrying the equipment and setting it up, so quite a turn on a two-pence piece, really. I was just pure elated.”
Anton Bibby plays Sheridan Smith’s onscreen son in The Cage(Image: 2026 THE CAGE © Element Pictures/BBC/Photographer James Stack)
Representing his home city in such cinematic style with The Cage has meant so much to Anton as he said: “[The role] was a dream come true. I was just in a bit of shock [after getting the part], and to be honest, it didn’t really sink in for a little while.
“It’s still kind of sinking in now. But then it was just straight to, ‘How can I do my best job with this?’ And that was the most important thing for me, to like help tell this story, this beautiful story, as best as I could.”
The rising star has never been one to rest on his laurels as he’s building on the success with performances in a play at the Edinburgh Festival before representing his home city once again in a BFI Short Film.
But, more importantly, he wants to savour the success of The Cage ahead of looking forward to the next chapter. He added: “It’s probably not going to be something that I can get used to is raving five-star reviews all the way throughout my career. So I’m definitely just trying to lap it up and enjoy it. But a lot of it’s not fully sinking in to be honest. I can’t quite get my head around it. I’m really happy for everyone who’s put countless hours into it.”
All five episodes of The Cage are now available to stream on iPlayer. You can read the ECHO’s full interview with Anton Bibby here