Life is currently something of a juggling act for Anna Friel. Taking a break from filming football trilogy Goal!, she tells Mark Anstead why she's happy at home to play mum to her adored new daughter

When she parks her brand new Saab convertible, Anna Friel is so intent on waving hello to me that she inadvertently backs it into a small post. When she realises what's happened she then lurches the car forward in panic and leaps out to inspect the damage. She breathes a sigh of relief - there's no sign of a scratch, just a bit of wood dust on the bumper.

"Please don't put that in the interview or I'll die of embarrassment" , she squeals with laughter. "I'm a very good driver usually. I've never even had so much as a knock before".

Blame it on lack of sleep. Her six-month-old daughter Gracie, by actor David Thewlis, is still disturbing her every night for feeding. But when she picks her up and strolls over to her favourite spot by the river in her home town of Windsor, she looks remarkably composed for someone who hasn't had a full night's rest. "Look at that - have you ever seen anything so brilliant ?", she points excitedly towards a swan diving for fish. "Am I allowed to show off? I caught a nine and a half pound salmon on a single-handed fly rod this year. It was a Billy Connolly's place in Scotland - I've made two films with him now so we're good friends.

"My dad is a great fisherman and I've always wanted to catch something but could never manage it. But up there in Scotland it only took 25 passes before I landed this big fish. I had to put it back because salmon are in danger , but I was really pleased with myself".

And so the conversation goes with bubbly Anna Friel. Happy to name drop continuously (I learn that Steve Martin and Eric Idle were also at Billy Connolly's) she willingly shares all the details about anything that excites her. The 28-year-old actress is so unreserved and open you hardly need ask any questions. Her natural optimism is only clouded when the subject turns to rumours about filming nude scenes for her next film, the sequel to Goal!

"It's not true and I'm really cross about all the reports in the papers", she says. "There are no nude scenes at all and yet the story ran that I began exercising immediately after giving birth to try to recover a bikini body for the scenes where I strip off".

The rumours began when she revealed she was due to start filming just three months after giving birth. Then when one of the film's producers was asked about her role he jokingly remarked she would be "having sex all over the place" and the reporter, she says, "put two and two together to make five". It hasn't helped that with her naturally small frame she seemed unusually fit and trim just months after the delivery.

"I've been labelled an irresponsible role model for young mothers", she says, "but non of it is true. I couldn't even walk for two weeks, let alone exercise. No one called me up to check the story. David found the way I was criticised very upsetting".

Born and raised in Rochdale to parents who were both teachers, her school drama teacher first spotted her acting potential and suggested she attend a theatre workshop in Oldham. Her first role on TV was at the age of 15 appearing as Michael Palin's daughter in Alan Bleasdale's GBH. Then she shot to fame two years later playing Beth Jordache in Brookside, particularly because of the moment she planted Britain's first lesbian screen kiss.

Even though she left the series ten years ago she remained in the public eye for all the wrong reasons: her party girl friendship with Kate Moss and romantic entanglements with Robbie Williams and Darren Day. During that period she was frequently in gossip columns.

In 2000 she moved out of London seeking a quieter life in Windsor and soon afterwards she met the recently divorced David Thewlis, whose credits include Naked, Harry Potter and Kingdom of Heaven. Thewlis, 42, had split from his wife and wasn't particularly looking for a relationship but the pair hit it off overnight when they met at a dinner thrown by friends.

Having previously suffered from the condition endometriosis, where cells normally found in the womb lining actually attach themselves to other parts of the pelvis, which led to an ovarian cyst, Anna feared she might be unable to have a child. So she was delighted when she fell unexpectedly pregnant and she and David have now struck an agreement to try and accept film work in sequence so they can support each other on set, taking turns to look after Gracie.

Last year was busy for both of them (he was filming in Spain and she in New York) and it strained the relationship, though not to the point where they were about to split, as some papers suggested. But it did impress on them the need to avoid the situation in future.

"At least for the early years we'll try to work our schedule that way," she says. "I'm sure the day will come when we both get offered a great job at the same time and we'll just have to address that when we come to it. But until then we'll have to try to fit our projects around each other".

When she smiles she seems very coy, as if she's trying to hide something. Sure enough the moment comes when she laughs out loud (after saying she's losing the ability to concentrate because of interrupted nights feeding her daughter) and reveals she has been wearing a brace.

"This is the reason that I had to stop breastfeeding and put Gracie on a bottle", she says. "During my pregnancy I developed mouth ulcers and I've still got them - see?". She peels back her upper lip to reveal lumps between her teeth. "I've had to have them cut out four times and they created gaps in my teeth so I'm wearing braces. The doctors said they'd probably disappear after giving birth but they haven't. They blamed it on the hormones stimulated every time I feed the baby and suggested I stop, but even then they can't promise they'll go away. They have got better but they're horrid because they tend to burst and bleed."

Someone believes in her latest film project, Goal! . Even before the first instalment hit our screens last September, work had already begun on the sequel which is due for release in April and there will be a third instalment following hot on its heels. The story is focused on a young Mexican footballer offered the chance to play for Newcastle United and then, in the sequels, for Madrid and finally in the World Cup. Anna plays the love interest in the film - a nurse who forms an attachment to him and helps keep his feet on the ground.

She badly needs a major cinema hit and she's hoping these films might improve her CV. Having appeared in more than 16 movies that few people have seen, she rues the day she turned down the chance to star in The Mummy. And when she auditioned for Gangs of New York she came close, but the role went to Cameron Diaz instead. She did score a lead role in the Michael Crichton thriller Timeline, but that didn't fare well enough at the box office to make a real impression on casting directors.

"I'm very pleased with everything I've done and I've always had good reviews", she explains, "but none of the films I've been in have been very successful. Every time I go to an audition and it comes down to me versus a "name", they go for the name because they think it will sell the movie. They say 'It will be different when you've had a major hit', but that's a bit Catch 22 isn't it?"

When she was first shown the script for the Goal! movies, she wanted to know how the producers could be so certain it would be enough of a success to justify two sequels. But she was persuaded that the story couldn't be told over just one film. The producers had a sponsorship deal with Adidas and had enough money to film three parts back to back.

"I thought it was very daring but I think they've made the story broad enough to appeal to a lot of people", she says. "It's not the hardest part I've ever had to play, but I get to be a Geordie nurse so it's fun".

"At first I thought I'd be nervous about returning to work after time off to have Gracie but she has given me new confidence. Responsibility kicks in - she relies on me and I want to work for her benefit and send her to good schools. It gives me extra motivation".