Actress Anna Friel has admitted feeling “nervous” about what the UK will make of her hit US show Pushing Daisies when it airs next month.
Speaking before a screening of the programme at Hollywood’s Paley Television Festival, she said: “I’m so nervous, all the big billboards have started to go up [in the UK] so I’m hoping they like it. It’s very important for me that the Brits like it.”
The show has meant Anna and her family have moved to LA, and the former Brookside star is loving it.
“I’m really settled here now. I went back [to Britain] for two weeks about three weeks ago for the first time in ages, it was lovely, but it’s really nice to come back,” she said.
Anna’s co-star Lee Pace explained the show’s premise: “I play Ned who can touch the dead back to life. If the dead live for longer than a minute then something else will die and if I touch something for a second time they die again forever. But in the first episode I bring to life my childhood sweetheart (played by Anna) and high comedy ensues.”
Ned’s gift means the pair can never touch each other or Anna’s character Chuck will die forever. And Lee revealed there are several re-takes when he accidentally touches Anna during filming.
“She’ll drop dead and we’ll all laugh and have to do another take but I really like that there’s that standing in between us, rather than us falling into bed together.”
• Anna Friel Blasts The U.K. For It’s Soap Opera Obsession •
March 14, 2008
Actress Anna Friel has slammed her native Britain for holding back her career - because the media still associates with her stint on U.K. soap opera Brookside. Friel, who has found fame Stateside on hit U.S. series Pushing Daisies, finished her two-year run on Brookside in 1995 - but states the British press still bombard her with questions about the now obsolete series.
The 31-year-old played the role of lesbian Beth Jordache in the show, who killed her abusive father and buried his body in the garden. She explains, “It was getting to be a joke here (in the U.K.). Even when I was 80 (sic), my epitaph would be, ‘Brookside. Used to be in a TV soap.’ How long ago is it now? Thirteen years.”
However Friel insists she doesn’t regret her time on the series: “I’m not embarrassed about any aspect of my life or past. It’s just really boring - people talking about the same things. I just think it’s time to let it go. Otherwise, the last 13 years have been for nothing. I do feel it’s a bit of a shame, though, that it had to happen in America rather than here. I wouldn’t say I’ve reinvented myself but, in America, they just take me in a different way.”
The British actress, who stars in hit US TV show ‘Pushing Daisies’, admits her stunning looks attract far too much unwanted attention.
Anna said: “I don’t really think about being a fantasy object. I’d only think about it if I got weird things through the post. There was a guy who sent me a photograph of his bedroom and it was walls and walls just covered in posters of me. I found that a bit freaky. And asking for knickers is weird too.”
The 31-year-old star, who has been dating ‘Harry Potter’ actor David Thewlis for seven years, also admits being seen as a sex symbol made it hard for her to trust men and form relationships.
Anna, who has previously dated actor Darren Day and singer Robbie Williams, told Esquire magazine: “It was hard having relationships. I think that is why I fell into Darren’s arms. He was someone who wasn’t really bothered by any of that. And I thought, ‘Here is someone to love me and take care of me.’
“I get lots and lots of attention. I suppose you have got to look through it and make sure they like you for the right reasons.”
It seems Anna Friel’s reason for upping sticks to the US was that she felt fed up with her image in the UK.
The 31-year-old actress, who came to prominence in Britain as Beth Jordache in Brookside over a decade ago, apparently grew tired of the soap label and was unable to shake other relics of her past.
Now based in Los Angeles with her partner, novelist and Harry Potter actor David Thewlis, the beauty said unsuccessful romances with Darren Day and Robbie Williams continued to haunt her at home, according to the Daily Express.
“It was getting to be a joke here,” the paper quotes her as telling Esquire Magazine.
“Even if I was 80, my epitaph would be ‘Brookside. Used to be in a TV soap.’ How long is it now? Thirteen years.”
Anna, who appears in the new US comedy drama Pushing Daisies, went on: “It’s just really boring. People talking about the same things: Brookside, Darren Day, Robbie Williams, party girl. I just think it’s time to let it go.”
I would like to thank Cassie for letting me know about this interview:
How does living in Los Angeles match up against Windsor, where your place had a view of the Queen’s castle?
I love it here. Even the realtors are famous! You get the famous gardener, the famous hairdresser, the best this, the best that. I also love that there’s always someone here who’s a bit more famous, which keeps the paparazzi at bay.
You get covered a lot by tabloids in Britain, but not here–not yet, anyway.
Thank God. It’s fantastic. I don’t have to put on makeup all the time.
How does one become a tabloid darling?
I used to hang around in this group the press called the “Primrose Hill set,” which included Kate Moss and the guys from Oasis. The press found that interesting. They always wanted to know what we were wearing. The English press has been very good to me, touch wood.
Speaking of touch, what has Chuck taught you about physical intimacy?
When you can’t ever touch, it makes you want to do it more. You forget how much it’s a part of communicating. I often think if I could just touch Ned, I could show the audience so much more.
You’ve done so many risqué roles; this must be a huge change.
It’s so clean compared to, say, a play like Closer. Being bubbly, happy, and positive five days a week is more challenging than I expected. I think risky material helps you grow as an actress, which you need if you want longevity. If you’re just the pretty girl, you’re going to have a really short career. A ripe actress like Susan Sarandon or Judi Dench, with lots of layers, is more interesting to me than the young, unripe version.
Your American accent on the show is flawless.
Thanks. In my car on the way to work, I speak with an American accent and keep it the whole day, even during personal phone calls. I have a voice coach who gives me 30 notes [on how to improve] every day! I wanted the character to have a lot of air in her voice and to be very wide-eyed. I based it a lot on my daughter, Gracie. I wanted my character to be childlike.
It must be fun to do a show your 2-year-old can watch!
Those bright visuals really get her. She likes to come to the set because they’ve built a sweet shop that looks like something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She takes sweets from all the jars. Her new thing is to say to me “Cut, Mummy! Cut!”
Bathory
Goal! 3
