Rochdale actress stars in eyebrow-raising ad campaign

A new McDonald’s advert is being called ‘genius’ after people realised it doesn’t even feature a product or restaurant - just some hungry colleagues raising their eyebrows and heading out of the office in sync.

The advertising campaign is built around the idea that an invite to grab a Maccie D's can be communicated with a mere eyebrow wiggle.

One of the commercial's hungry office workers is Rochdale actress Phoebe Coop whose first ever job as a teenager was at McDonalds Sandbrook Park!

Style caught up with Phoebe to find out all about the catchy new ad...

How did it feel to be cast in such a huge commercial?

I was so, so, SO excited. I realised pretty early on that this wasn’t going to be a regular commercial! Once I found out Edgar Wright was directing it and Jennifer White was in charge of movement direction, I knew it was going to be special. I admire their work so much, so getting to work with them was out of this world. The audition process was much longer than typical commercial castings too, so when I finally got told the role was mine, I was over the moon!

Edgar Wright is known for directing box office hits such Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and World’s End - what was it like to work with him?

It was an incredible experience. Edgar is a genius in filmmaking and directing, I learnt so much from working with him. He’s also extremely kind and humble, he knew everyone’s names on set from the get-go and worked really closely with everyone to ensure we were all happy and able to give it our all. He’s my favourite film director, so experiencing him work and seeing the magic of how he creates such exciting film was unbelievable.

How long did it take to film and was it as much fun as it looks?

It took just short of a week to film. We had a rehearsal day working with Edgar and Jenny practicing some of the trickier shots and getting familiar with the music. Every beat was choreographed and had to be very specific. After the rehearsal day, we had a day off where all of the set was built, then we spent four days filming on a tight schedule. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a job. The cast and crew were all so lovely and supportive; everyone there was working to the best of their ability and we were all so invested in making the commercial nothing short of perfection. I met some incredible people and had the best time, we laughed non-stop!

Was it tricky walking down the steps in sync?

It took a lot of rehearsal and a lot of patience from Jenny and Tom, our choreographer and assistant choreographer! It was also raining that day, so there was a lot of running in and out of the building, trying to get a good take in the couple of minutes between rain showers. It was hilarious chaos which slowed things down, but we got there eventually and ended up with such an impressive shot with around 200 of us walking down those steps.

What do you hope to work on next?

At the moment I’m seeing where life takes me. There’s always so many exciting opportunities so I’m working with my agent to find which feels like the right one. I definitely hope to do more TV and film work, I love being on set and feel very at home in that environment.

Finally… What’s your McDonald's order?

The hash browns!!! I absolutely love them. I wish they did them all day and not just for breakfast. Although I’d probably never eat anything else ever again!

Ruth Parkinson