Woman's Own - 10 June 2002

Star Interview

This month sees former Brookside star Anna Friel back on our screens after a four-year break from TV. From small beginnings as a soap star she’s set to become a major player in the movies – but woe betide anyone who mentions the words “celebrity couple” - By Tim Randall

Anna Friel has hit the headlines for the men she’s been with as well as the films she’s made. First there was her fiancé, Darren Day, who left her for Coronation street’s Tracy Shaw. Then she was wooed by Robbie Williams (well, what girl-about-town hasn’t been ?). And even Jack Nicholson reportedly declared he couldn’t rest until he’d slept with her.

But these days, Anna only has eyes for one man – her partner of two years, actor David Thewlis. “I’m more settled and content than I’ve ever been and more in love than I can remember”, says Anna. But whatever you do, don’t call them a celebrity couple. It won’t go down well. Anna is a straight-talking Northern lass and the celebrity twosome tag winds her up… a lot.

“David would hate to be labelled like that, and I would hate for him to have any kind of stigma like that associated with him, just because he’s going out with me”, says Anna. “The only way to avoid it would be never to be seen together and never to hold hands, which is ridiculous”.

“What we try and do is avoid going to those bars and clubs where you get photographed all the time, where it looks like you’re parading and presenting yourself as a celebrity couple, when you’re not”.

It’s easy to understand Anna’s frustration. After all, she’s made more than 10 movies – a significant body of work for such a young actress – yet all anyone’s interested in is who she’s slipping between the sheets with.

And when you’ve had every detail of your love life splashed across the papers, as she did during her Darren Day humiliation, it’s understandable that you don’t want to repeat the experience. For a start, these days Anna is a respected actress. And Darren, well, who knows?

“I’ve publicly revealed as much about my feelings for David as I’m going to do for the time being. But some elements of the media tend to become a little obsessed with my love life to the exclusion of all else”, she sighs.

Next week she’s off to Los Angles to sign on the dotted line for Timeline, a £60 million film adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel. After roles in so-so low-budget films such as The Land Girls, Made Cows and Me Without You, could this finally be the blockbuster to catapult her to major big-screen success?

“I don’t think I’ve done too bad for a 25-year-old, but it’s annoying when films don’t get seen, whether it’s due to poor distribution or not being advertised properly”, says Anna, reflecting on her less commercial projects.

“The more it happens, the more you become a bit numb to it and you just have to keep saying to yourself, ‘It’s not my fault’. I’ve just got to keep going and one day there’ll be a film that will really hit home. The best thing is I’m growing as an actress all the time.”

Another recent disappointment was losing out on a lead role to Cameron Diaz in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.

“Of course I was disappointed. I’d got a voice coach, studied hard for two weeks and then worked for an entire day with Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. But Cameron is a big, bankable name,” explains Anna.

It was playing Beth Jordache in Brookside during the early 1990s, that first brought Anna to our attention. She shocked the nation with soap’s first lesbian kiss, not to mention killing her abusive father.

For a while, Anna admits, the constant mention of her Brookside past did grate slightly. But now that she’s proved herself an accomplished and versatile actress she’s proud of her time on the soap.

She says, “Without Brookside I wouldn’t be where I am today and I know that. There’s no point pretending. But it just took a long time for anyone to accept me as anyone else.”

Since then she’s starred in the BBC costume drama Our Mutual Friend, and numerous film roles, but it was as a stripper in the Broadway hit Closer that she won over Hollywood’s acting elite. Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer and Madonna are all admirers – Madonna even took Anna’s gran out for dinner.

“I don’t like talking about those things because it makes me look a bit name droppy”, she says – again wary of her portrayal in the press.

This month, the Rochdale-born actress returns to television for the first time in four years to star in the edge-of-your-seat BBC1 conspiracy thriller Fields of Gold. She plays Lucia, a young press photographer, who, alongside tabloid hack Lodge (Phil Davis), finds herself investigating the sinister connections of government, big business and the scary world of GM crops. It’s gripping stuff and if anything will make you want to go organic, this will.

“It’s been proven that whatever you inject animals with, somewhere along the food chain it’s still there and it’s going into our bodies. If we don’t watch out, traditional methods of farming will disappear altogether, to be taken over by technology and chemicals,” says Anna, who is also set to star in a film adaptation of the Marian Keyes bestseller Watermelon.

“I’m really excited to be back on telly. People keep saying to me, ‘What have you been doing?’ because they haven’t seen the films I’ve done. At least this way round you can just go into your living room, press a button and I’m there.”

While the actress is clearly dedicated to her work, her eyes really light up when briefly mentioning boyfriend David. She remains silent about the chances of wedding bells, but admits they’re the perfect match. She says, “We’re both northern and down to earth. There are no airs and graces. With us, what you see is what you get”.