Interview: 'Belle Reminds Me How Important It Is To Stay Open-Hearted': Actor Tanisha Spring of The Old Vic's A CHRISTMAS CAROL on Compassion, Clarity and Challenges

Now in its ninth year, The Old Vic's acclaimed version of A Christmas Carol by Jack Thorne has become a staple of the festive theatrical season. The show fills the auditorium to the brim with mince pies, music and merriment. A unique staging immerses the audience in London’s longest running adaptation of this beloved festive favourite.

Actor Tanisha Spring returns to the theatre after her incredibly successful role as Rita in Groundhog Day. She talked to BroadwayWorld about compassion, clarity and the lessons she's learning playing Belle.

Welcome back to the Old Vic, Tanisha! You were last here with Groundhog Day, is it comforting/exciting as an actor to return to a familiar space to tell a different story?  
 
It is all the above. I had a great experience on Groundhog Day and truly loved working at The Old Vic. The building, the people, its warmth are familiar, but the auditorium has been transformed into the round, fresh for the show this year and a new and exciting playing space for me. 
 
You play Belle, an important figure in Scrooge’s life – what have you enjoyed most about getting to know and playing her?

I’ve really enjoyed playing Belle’s strength and honesty. It’s so easy to assume she’s gentle and fairly meek by today’s standards, but she makes heartbreaking decisions that are rooted in self-respect and a beautiful clarity. Though she is a brief moment in Scrooge’s life, it’s her compassion and bravery in that honesty that is a real gift to Scrooge in the end. 

We meet two different versions of Belle – as a young woman in love, and later as a married woman. That must be an interesting contract to play as an actor, interpreting a character at different stages in her life?

It’s a beautiful challenge. You’re shifting age and playing those phases of her life in back-to-back snapshots. It forced me to think about time, consequences and Belle's view of love, and love generally doesn't just disappear but morphs and changes with time.
We meet young Belle, and she is devoted to her family, curious and a little guarded. The older Belle is softer but is shaped by experiences, by choices and by the life she’s built away from Scrooge.
 
Building on that, do the two versions of the character feel very different from each other, or do they influence and feed into one another, both in the writing and in your understanding of who she is and becomes?

They really do feed into one another. Older Belle has the same heart with years of lessons etched into it. To me her firmness as a young woman becomes her grounded nature and steadiness as an adult. Her ability to love so deeply becomes her ability to let go gracefully. I feel like her internal pace changes, but it does feel like the same soul, rather than two halves.

Do you have a favourite moment of hers, or a line that really speaks to you?
 
The moment when she meets Scrooge again is so beautifully human. She speaks with such truth, no anger, no animosity or blaming, just a clarity. I feel she was able to forgive Scrooge years before this, but she finally gets the closure she didn’t know she needed.

What about a scene or moment that you’re not in; is there a moment you, say, watch from the wings and you think: “Oh, that’s brilliant”!

Scrooge has a moment with his younger self. He says only a few words but it gets me every time. He reconnects with his younger mind, all his loves, fears and hopes, and we watch him connect with his innocence.

This production of the show is now a festive staple, in its ninth year! What is it about the story of A Christmas Carol (and Jack Thorne’s adaptation of it here) that you think appeals so much to audiences, and to you as an actor?
 
I think at the heart of it Scrooge doesn’t feel he is enough as a young man and in trying to prove to himself that he is, he makes some terrible decisions. Jack’s version doesn’t shy away from the darkness of that and the direction and design doesn’t either. It wraps that darkness in community, humour and heart. The show insists we can all change. It’s that combination of hope and accountability that reminds people that kindness isn’t sentiment, it is powerful.

The production always supports a charity throughout the run and has raised phenomenal amounts of money and awareness every year – that must be so wonderful, that sense of giving back and community. Can you tell us about this year’s partnership?

It’s such a beautiful part of the show and incredibly meaningful to be a small part of a production that doesn’t just advertise generosity but actively gives back. This year’s partnership is with Feeding Britain, which focuses on eliminating hunger for families facing hard times across the UK. Christmas isn’t easy for everyone and watching people take their phones out immediately to share, communities helping their community, is incredibly inspiring.

Has playing Belle and being a part of telling this story taught you anything that you’ll carry with you in life and your career?

Belle reminds me how important and beautiful it is to stay open-hearted. She really listens to her instincts and doesn’t lose herself. Playing her every night reminds me to trust my instincts more and stand in my own clarity.

What do you hope audiences take away from the show?
 
I hope they leave with a warm and inspiring reminder that compassion really does matter.
Compassion for the people in their communities and compassion for themselves. That we do not have to be the sum of our mistakes and that reconnection is possible.

Read our 5 star review of The Old Vic's A Christmas Carol here.

A Christmas Carol runs at The Old Vic until 10 January 2026