With big roles on stage and screen and a young daughter, actress Anna Friel has come a long way since Brookside. She talks family, films and fame

Anna Friel is an old hand at the fame game. Just 30 years old and she’s been on our screens since she was 16, received plaudits on Broadway when she was only 20, and has starred opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, Rachel Weisz and Ewan McGregor. She’s impressively in demand: embarking on a round of publicity for Goal!2 , filming Goal!3, being courted to return to the London stage, and has recently signed to star opposite Helen Mirren (one of her icons) in an upcoming film. She may have suffered exhaustion in the past, but today she’s a tiny bundle of charm and energy. At her home in Windsor – where she lives with the actor David Thewlis and their 16-month-old daughter Gracie Ellen Mary Friel – Anna offers tea and biscuits, and clambers up to the attic, which she ‘s converted into a highly covetable dressing room, to enthuse over her collection of vintage clothes, and chats about her frankly rather lovely life.

Your life has completely changed over the last couple of years – are you managing to balance work and motherhood?

I’m learning to do it better now. Doctors did get involved at one stage as I was suffering from cumulative exhaustion. I desperately wanted a child and to be a good mother, but I didn’t want the momentum of my career to stop. I’d signed up for all the Goal! Movies: I was working on the first one until I was 26 weeks pregnant and started on the second six weeks after I had the baby. I was so overtired; my brain had lost its rhythm of how to sleep. I had seven sleepless nights; went on set and the ground was spinning. The doctor gave me something to make me sleep that night – after that I was fine again and got my patterns back, but it was really scary.

Do you take Gracie to work with you?

She was with me every single day on my last movie, aside from when she went to visit David in Portugal where he was working. Katarina, my nanny, is my godsend. When we go away, we stay together – we three girls around the world.

Does it help to have a partner with the same profession?

It’s hard in our industry to have a partner who’s not an actor. How many men would say “all right darling, you go to LA for four months with the baby. I’ll see you when you get back?” Its lucky that we can say “Okay you do a job, then I’ll do a job”. We’re trying to alternate it so we can all be together. That’s really hard if a great job comes up, but it’s what you’ve got to do or you’re away from each other and the baby for too long.

Would you like to get married?

We’re happy as we are and he’s never asked me, so we haven’t. Why fix what doesn’t need mending? We’re both independent – we’ve got our own houses – and it works the way it is.

Can you see yourself in Gracie?

She’s got a very calm side, which she gets from David, and my gregarious energetic streak; she’s always running after people and wanting to talk. We’ve got to watch that as she chases strangers. She’s a performer already, which is nerve-wracking: she likes to be applauded. Let’s put it that way.

Were you surprised when you got pregnant so easily?

I was thrilled, but a little taken aback. The doctors found out I had endometriosis, and told me getting pregnant would be difficult. After I’d been told, I found this great doctor who has helped women who’ve been told they’d never conceive get pregnant. It took one attempt and I was pregnant.

Did you find the birth hard?

It was awful because although I expected it to hurt, I just didn’t expect it to sting in the way it did – that really shocked me. I had an epidural, but it stopped working when the pushing came; when they asked if I wanted a top-up, I stupidly said no. But you do forget the pain and I would do it 20 times again. Well, maybe not 20, maybe three, or maybe two…

Was David supportive?

David was so great. He stopped smoking and drinking with me. He was tremendously supportive, but he’s always wanted children, and with the prospect of one coming, he didn’t mind what he had to do.

Would you like to have more children?

I would, but not quite yet. I want Gracie to have all my attention and to work for a bit more. But maybe in two or three years.

Are you glad you had a child at this stage?

The doctors said, “Make sure you do it before 30” and I’m really glad I did. The relationship I have with my parents is very strong because the generation gap isn’t too big, so they’re like friends, I’d love to have that with Gracie.

Could you be a full-time mum?

God, no, I love my work and I like the balance. I’d become very bored. I could do it for a few years or later on, but not now. I like to work and to be a mum, but I like to do it knowing that I have the choice.

It must be very different from your single days, hanging out with Kate Moss and dating Robbie Williams…

That was a long time ago, and I don’t regret a single minute. I’d worked since I was 16, never gone to clubs, never taken drugs, didn’t really drink, went out with Darren Day. So it was my brief misspent youth. We’d go out and have a great time and Kate was terribly sweet. But I would always turn up to work on time, I took that very seriously, and when I came back from Broadway I decided to change my life a bit. If I was friends with Kate now, I’d never be out of the press. I don’t think I could handle that level of fame.

How do you cope with press intrusion into your life?

You have times when you do something and you’re in the press, but then it calms down. But if you’re living a relatively quiet life and you’re not going to The Ivy and lots of parties, you can be left alone. I had it so much when I was younger, only 16, so I grew up with it, but it misleads the public. You’re guilty by association or you’re a party animal, which has a knock-on effect as to how seriously you’re taken as an actress.

Is that why you chose to live in Windsor?

I like being part of the community; I’ve got a village mentality when I’m not working. I like to be cosied up. David has a house in Clerkenwell, but we haven’t spent a night there in two years, it’s so child-friendly here.

Are you body conscious?

I’ve only ever put on weight once in my life, when I had this assistant who kept saying, “Everyone thinks you look too thin” and feeding me up. Apart from that I’ve stayed about seven and a half stone. Now I’m healthy, but when you look back at old pictures, maybe at one stage I had a little of the syndrome when your head looks a bit too big for your body and you lose your breasts.

So you don’t frequent the gym?

Why would I want to go to the gym and look at myself in the mirror saying “Look at the abs on that?” I find it really monotonous. I’m not opposed to the gym, if I have to get fit for a film then I’ll do it, but I’ve been lucky enough to do things for film roles instead. In the last one I learned how to fence.

What do you eat on an average day?

For breakfast, I have porridge coked with blueberries, maybe with manuka honey. I roast pumpkin seeds and pour soy sauce and Tabasco on them and that’s my snack – really high energy, and it tastes nice. I love oily fish, like smoked mackerel, and my favourite salad is rocket, avocado, pine nuts and bacon. I’ll do something like homemade chicken soup for dinner. I love cooking, I find it therapeutic, plus you know what’s going into your food.

Do you prefer to eat organic food?

We have the Queen’s meat from Windsor Farm Shop, which is totally organic, and I order organic vegetables from the internet. But since I started to eat healthily, my food bills have doubled. I really think it’s something the government should look at; it’s just disgraceful that being healthier and living a longer life is dependent on how much money you have. You can go into Tesco’s and buy a family pack of chicken for a fiver, or you buy two organic chicken breasts for nine pounds.

Any vices?

Red wine, dark chocolate and strong cheese.

Do you have any desert island beauty products?

One is Palmer’s Cocoa Butter. I use Pantene’s intensive conditioners, and I love John Frieda’s Frizz Ease Serum. And I don’t go anywhere without my Max Factor Erase Concealer.

How do you look after your skin?

I always wear an SPF factor of 30 plus. I’m very worried about skin cancer and ageing, but fortunately I have a big hat fetish. I’m starting to get really paranoid now because these lines between my nose and mouth are coming. My top beauty tip is ice-cold water; it’s what old movie stars used to do in the 1940s. Fill your sink with about 15 cubes of ice, top it with cold water, and then splash your face for a minute. It’s the best toning trick, like natural Botox.

Would you ever be tempted to try the real thing?

I can understand people doing something about lines; the pressure in this business is massive. What I can’t understand is younger people doing it when there’s no need to. But as you get older you still have the competition of looking the same as the Keira Knightleys of this world. I’m sure I’m not going to say “Absolutely not, I’m keeping my face exactly the same”. I know a handful of actresses who’ve done it, but they waited for the right time. I remember seeing them and saying, “You look great, have you had an amazing facial?”.

What about going under the knife?

It’s silly – in our industry lights do it all. On set some days I look so exhausted, but you look into the monitor and there’s not a line, your eyes are glowing and your skin is flawless. I’ll even be vain in restaurants and sit where the lighting is best.

What’s your view on unflattering pictures of celebrities in the press?

It’s a jealousy thing, not wanting people to succeed. You watch someone growing in the press and think “Right, you’re getting to that stage. You’re about to overexpose yourself – are you ready? Boom”. And you’re knocked back down. If you’re out there, they’re going to pull you down and you have to accept it.

Do you like to shop?

I shop everywhere. I love Top shop, Moschino, Luisa Beccaria, Diesel. I love vintage – I love to rummage and the idea of taking a long time to find something really suits me. And I’ve got millions of pairs of shoes.

What was it like hitting 30?

Thirty was a real watershed: when you’re younger 30 is really grown-up, but that’s 40 now and we’ll keep pushing it back. There’s more of a sense of calm. I don’t know if that’s from having the baby or feeling stronger and not having to excuse myself so much.

Has what you want from your career changed?

I’ve worked solidly since I was 16, and I always want to do better. As I get older, I care more about longevity as an actress. I wish I’d been older when I was on Broadway (in Closer) so I could have appreciated it. I was so scared. I was visited backstage by these stars. We went for dinner with Nicole Kidman in LA, she was lovely. And we’d hang out with Madonna; she’s amazing: I don’t know anyone who can reinvent themselves like her. She’s great with the kids – Lourdes is beautiful, the world should look out for that one. It’s a lovely family unit. And I love Dustin Hoffman.

You’ve stayed friends with Billy Connolly after making two films with him…

Billy’s almost like god-daddy to Gracie, she was only four weeks old when we took her up to his castle, we spend time there every year. I love him and Pam (Pamela Stephenson). We’ll be at the castle for a week and every day they say “What do you want to do this morning?” .You can try falconry or fly-fishing, Billy plays his banjo and there’s a big tepee where everyone sits and plays music. It’s filled with people like Sean Connery and Steve Martin. We say, “Who are we going to see this year?” . It’s just delightful, like a big, happy family.

How do you relax?

I sing a lot and play guitar, and I love to read. I’ve just finished One Hundred years of Solitude, The Island and Call me Elizabeth, a true story about a woman who was an escort for 15 years to support her children.

What’s your next project?

A European film, Bathory, about one of the greatest murderesses of all time. I’d heard they’d cast Famke Janssen, but I read the script and fell in love with it. I’ve never written a letter to a director in my life, but it made him change his mind and give me the part – and Gracie plays my daughter.

Anna Friel is the face of Pantene. Goal!2 is due for release in cinemas nationwide in early 2007.