The Look (in The Mirror) - 5 April 2003

That Lovin' Frieling

She had a reputation as a party animal and was often photographed living it up with the likes of Robbie Williams, Kate Moss, Jonny Lee Miller, Sadie Frost, Jude Law and the rest of the Primrose Hill set. Yet these days, Anna Friel is more of a homebody who prefers a quiet life. She has also quit smoking and temporarily given up alcohol as part of a health kick.

"I gave up smoking on New Year's Eve - no one can quite believe seeing Anna without a fag hanging out of her mouth", she says with a giggle. "To help me quit, I also gave up drinking for a month because a glass of wine and a ciggie go hand in hand. It was completely boring not doing either and I hated every minute of it Then I got obsessed with going to the gym and stuff, so I've now got nice fresh clear skin and a tight bum. I've resumed the wine, but not the cigarettes. And I'm not going to become one of those reformed smokers who moan about others - I'll be telling people to light up so I can inhale the smoke".

We meet in Dublin, where Anna is busy filming the ITV1 drama Watermelon, which will be shown this month. Shortly after I arrive at her hotel suite, she disappears into another room with her mobile phone to take a call from her boyfriend, the actor and writer David Thewlis, 39. When she reappears, she is glowing with happiness.

"That was the nicest call I've ever had from my boyfriend", says Anna, 26. "I really miss him. I'm working all day, so I don't get much of a chance to speak to him."

They met two years ago at a dinner thrown by a mutual friend and hit it off straight away, Within weeks, David had moved into Anna's home in Windsor, Berks, and they are still very much in love.

"We haven't seen much of each other recently", she confides. "Not long ago he finished a film and had to go straight into the editing suite for 12 hours a day. But we had a week together at Christmas with family and we do get a couple of hours together in the evenings. Recently we were supposed to go to Paris for a weekend, but he had to fly to Los Angeles to do stuff for Timeline, a film we did together, so I took my brother instead."

"It's only natural that this happens because of the jobs we do. We were lucky enough to have an unusual amount of time together for the first 18 months of our relationship. We only spent three nights apart. David is just starting work on the new Harry Potter film, so we'll have even less time together. He is playing Professor Lupin and has now become the favourite with all our friends who've got kids. Their eyes are huge with awe at the fact that David is going to be meeting Harry Potter. It will be brilliant - I'm really excited for him."

"And it will be nice to say to our kids one day 'Look there's daddy', especially in a film like that with Gary Oldman and Michael Gambon, who is taking over the role of Professor Dumbledore. But I won't be as popular as he is - the girlfriend of Professor Lupin doesn't sound quite as cool."

Not that the couple are planning to marry or start a family just yet. "I want to make sure when I get married that it is absolutely right, especially seeing so many breaking up around us at the minute", says Anna, obviously thinking of the marriage troubles of her close friends Sadie Frost and Jude Law, although she won't talk directly about them.

"If you are happy now, what does it change ? It just makes it all that much more serious. I'd rather wait until we want to start thinking about children - that would be a good reason to do it. My mum and dad have been married for 28 years and that is something I aspire to".

Although Anna is delaying having children, she is aware that time is not on her side. Two years ago, while filming the British friendship drama Me Without You, she was taken to casualty with a burst ovarian cyst. "I was rushed to hospital and had to have blood transfusions", she says. "It was very scary and could have been dangerous, but fortunately I was all right."

Doctors discovered that she was also suffering from endometriosis, a condition where cells usually found in the womb break away and grow outside it. This can lead to infertility and Anna was advised not to leave it too late to start a family. "It hasn't come back but if it does I've been told to try for children before I'm 30", she says. "I love babies. I've worked with a few now and I get excited and clucky. I'm always broody, but it's just not the right time for me yet. I'd love to be a mum one day, but I'm only 26, so I can wait a few years - although not too long."

It is hard to believe she is only in her mid-twenties, having already packed more into her life than most people can dream of. Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, she has gone from soap success in the early 90's - as lesbian Beth in Brookside - to make 12 films, including The Land Girls, Mad Cows, Rogue Trader and the recently-released The War Bride. Then there is the £55million fantasy epic Timeline, due out later this year. She has also been a hit onstage, both on Broadway in Closer and in the West End show Lulu.

In contrast, since leaving Brookie eight years ago, she has made very few TV appearances. What attracted her to this week's two-hour drama Watermelon, based on the quirky novel by Marion Keyes, was the stellar cast, which includes Billy Elliott start Jamie Draven, Brenda Fricker and Ciaran McMenamin.

"We had a great time on it", recalls Anna, who plays Claire - a girl who finds love in her Irish hometown after being dumped by her husband. "Claire is the main focus, so I'm in pretty much every scene, which is knackering but fun".

The only downside to the project was spending five weeks away from David, on location in Dublin. She may be holding off on commitment, but Anna is convinced that, following past doomed romances with Darren Day and Robbie Williams, in David she has finally found her Mr Right. I ask if she and Robbie are still in touch. "Not really, that's all in the past", she says with a sigh. "We went out five years ago and were only together for about five months. People still jump on it because he is a huge star. What I can say, he's a nice guy, he works very hard and deserves his success".

These days she also has less to do with the celebrity party crowd of which she was once a key player and which still numbers the likes of supermodel Kate Moss and Meg Mathews.

"I used to go out with them, we were friends but we grew apart," she says. "I'm not a cliquey group person. I've got good solid friends and we are all private. I got lumbered with the party girl tag, someone who goes out all the time, but I don't do it anymore."

Anna pauses for a moment then adds, "I've worked since I was 16, and at that age you have to do it and get it out of your system. I was a young, healthy girl who was single at the time. It was either sit at home on my own, or go out with my friends. I've grown up in the limelight and people think you're lucky, you get paid well and you're famous. They don't see any downside to it, but there is. I got quite insecure and paranoid for a while because you've got to watch everything you do. That's hard for someone like me because I'm ridiculously open. I'm very much 'This is me - take it or leave it'. "

"Now I'm less naive and don't trust people as much. I make really good friends quite easily, but my secrets and my private thoughts I keep to myself. I'll call my parents or my boyfriend if I really need someone to talk to. I used to give my number out to absolutely everybody and then panic because I hadn't called people and was worried they'd think I was just a flaky actress. Then I realised there's a simple answer - stop giving your number out".

As further proof that she has turned her back on her wild past, Anna announces that she fully intends to spend the next couple of months getting stuck into some home improvements at the new house in Windsor that she and David recently moved into. Although they also have a London base - a converted ballroom in Clerkenwell - it is in the countryside that Anna feels most at home.

"It's just round the corner from our old place, a really peaceful spot and it's gorgeous" she says with a wide smile. "I can't wait to do a bit of painting and home-making for a change."