Georgina Hagen leads a glittering career across stage and screen, with television credits including Britannia High and The Story of Tracy Beaker, and theatre including Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Heathers: The Musical. She is now playing leading lady Raquel in the UK Tour of Only Fools and Horses.
Georgina Hagen
In this exclusive interview, Georgina takes us behind the scenes of Only Fools and Horses and discusses her relationship with Bronia Buchanan’s boutique talent agency BBA Management.
Drawn to the Role of Raquel from a Young Age
Georgina grew up watching Only Fools and Horses. “My mum and dad used to watch it. My nan and grandad used to watch it,” she says. “It has been a constant source of entertainment in my household since I was born.”
“I very much knew the characters and their stories long before I was asked to audition, and a couple of people had mentioned to me, ‘Oh, gosh, you really do remind me of Tessa Peake-Jones,’ who’s the actress who plays Raquel in the series. ‘Have you thought about auditioning for Only Fools and Horses?’ And I had said, ‘I’d love to play that role.’”
Raquel is a “brilliantly iconic” role for Georgina because she’s “the only one really who lets Del [her partner] get away with what he gets away with.” She’s also “not afraid to be the person to put a foot down and say no. She’s the only one that he listens to.”
When the opportunity arose for Georgina to audition for the role, her talent agent Bronia Buchanan was also certain that this was the perfect role for her. Georgina remembers her saying, “You are Raquel. You have to audition. It’s just too perfect.”
Georgina’s Take on the Role of Raquel
When Georgina found out that she had landed the role, she rewatched episodes of Only Fools and Horses to study Raquel’s “mannerisms, accent, facial expressions, and delivery of lines.”
While some scenes in the musical directly recreate those from the TV series, others have been adapted to serve the show’s plot. These differences have “really helped” Georgina make the role her own. “It’s not as if I can just watch the series and mirror it verbatim as to what Tessa did so brilliantly,” she explains.
Georgina adds that Raquel, for her, is the “heart of the show.” Raquel is “this ordinary woman who has her hopes, her dreams, and her aspirations but is equally as big of a failure as Del.” Because of this, “she brings a very vulnerable driving force, which forces Del to become vulnerable as well.”
A Show for Every Generation
Rather than appealing to only one demographic, Only Fools and Horses is enjoyed by theatre-goers of all ages. Georgina recalls seeing young children sitting in the front row, including “a beautiful little boy in Edinburgh who came to watch dressed as Del.”
“It really is such a broad age range,” Georgina says. “I think that comes down to the fact that everything represented in the musical is still so relevant now in this day and age.”
“Certain TV shows come on and they’re brilliant at the time, but then when you watch them back, they’re incredibly dated.” Meanwhile, Only Fools and Horses is still shown often on television. “It’s played on repeat,” Georgina says. “That’s because it can be. The appeal is still there for everybody. It’ll be ingrained in British TV and comedy for years to come.”
Adapting The Only Fools and Horses TV Show for the Stage
Having acted on-stage and on-screen, Georgina is no stranger to the differences between these sub-industries. “They are two completely different crafts,” she says. “One requires you to be a lot more natural rather than trying to fill a 3,000 seater.”
With Only Fools and Horses, the cast and crew work hard to bring the televised series to the stage. For Georgina, one of the most magical aspects of this transition is the music.
“When you watch an episode of Only Fools and Horses, if you listen beyond the scene, you’ll find there is music pretty much all the time,” she says. “One of the beauties of the show is that they’ve picked up on that, so there are a lot of songs in the show that were background music in the TV series.”
“Pretty much every character has a standout moment with regards to a musical song. One of my favourite songs is the one that I get to sing in Act One. It’s called ‘The Girl.’ If you were to imagine a film noir moment where it’s just a face in the spotlight and you’re looking into this character’s soul, that’s what I think it is.”
Georgina’s Love of Touring
While performing at the same theatre has its conveniences, Georgina loves touring with Only Fools and Horses — and has toured for several productions. “The thing I love about touring the most is that you get to go to a different venue every week or every other week and you get to experience the different audiences,” she says.
“With a show like this, you would — incorrectly — expect southern audiences to be a bit more ruckus because it’s based in London and it’s very southern-driven. It’s been the opposite. Actually, the northern venues, certainly Scotland, have gone mad for it. It’s so lovely to gauge the difference between areas.”
“Also, I don’t think that regional venues get enough of the spotlight. There are some absolutely cracking theatres that you visit when you’re out on the road. Beautiful companies who help maintain them and try to get them on the map.”
Of all the theatres Georgina’s toured, Bristol Hippodrome is her favourite, although she loves the Edinburgh Playhouse and the Grand Opera House in York too.
“I’ve been to Bristol with every tour I’ve done,” she says. “I call it the chocolate box theatre because it’s so beautiful and perfect. It’s so old. There’s so much history. The auditorium is stunning. When you sit on-stage looking out, it’s breathtaking.”
Representation With Bronia Buchanan’s BBA Management
Although Georgina signed with Bronia Buchanan’s BBA Management in 2021, she’s known the talent agent since she was 16.
“I have admired her for that long,” she says. “When the opportunity arose that I was able to sign with her, it was the biggest shift not only in my career — in terms of it being one of the best things that I’ve ever done — but also for me personally.”
“I have never had a representative or an agent who has truly believed in me and also looked a year or so down the line and gone, ‘Okay, this is the goal. This is what we’re working towards. I need you to do this, this, and this. In the meantime, I’m going to be doing this, this, and this. If we work together, we’ll get it done,’ and it actually coming to fruition.”
“I think she has the most amazing way of being able to really make it work for her clients. It’s such a testament to her and how she runs the company. I have the utmost respect for her and I think she’s brilliant. She’s done nothing but amazing things for me since I signed with her. She is my biggest cheerleader, my biggest supporter.”
Beyond Bronia Buchanan herself, Georgina has fostered strong relations with the rest of the BBA Management team. “I love the fact that when I call BBA, I can say, ‘Hi, it’s Georgie,’ and every single person in the office knows who I am.”
When she calls, she knows whoever picks up the phone will ask how she is and have a chat before asking how they can help. “It’s never just a receptionist going, ‘Hi, sorry, who?’ Or, ‘Who are you calling for? All right. Okay, let me see if they’re free,’” Georgina says. The team has an “almost family atmosphere” while “also maintaining a really professional relationship.”
“It’s a boutique, small team, but they give their utmost attention and time to every single client,” Georgina says. “When you’ve been with slightly bigger agencies like I have, where they have hundreds upon hundreds of clients and hundreds and hundreds of agents, you feel like you get a little bit lost in the system, which I’ve never felt once with BBA.”
Georgina’s Dream Role
Georgina has three dream roles. “I’d love to play Glinda in Wicked one day,” she says. “But I’d also love to be Fantine or even Madame T in Les Mis. Madame T would be way more fun than Fantine, but Fantine gets the beautiful ‘I Dreamed a Dream.’”
“Ellen in Miss Saigon is also a huge dream role of mine. I’m absolutely in love with that story, in love with the music, in love with everything it represents.”
Advice For Children Who Are Coming Up in the Industry
Georgina started her stage and TV career as a child, and she now offers advice for the next generation pursuing acting careers. “Believe in yourself,” she says. “Don’t be afraid of failure. You are going to have setbacks and knockbacks. That is inevitable in this industry.”
“But do not let it get you down because the stronger you are and the more resilient you become, the better. When you start believing in yourself from the inside, it shines on the outside and people can see that.”
About Bronia Buchanan’s BBA Management
Bronia Buchanan’s BBA Management represents a select group of actors and creatives who excel on the stage, screen, and radio. All agents share the clients and help them secure contracts working in critically acclaimed and commercially successful productions. The agency’s strong relationships with producers and casting directors worldwide enables clients to receive career-defining opportunities across several genres.
See BBA Management’s actors and creatives.