Gorgeous Star of epic new movie “The War Bride” - ANNA FRIEL from “Brookside” to Broadway, the broody Brit-Pack actress sets her sights on Hollywood’s Bright Lights

Famous for her lesbian kiss in rumoured-to-be-axed soap Brookside, Anna Friel has never been one to shy away from the headlines. However the actress famed for her love of partying and headline-grabbing relationships has been keeping a relatively low profile over the past couple of years. Anna, 26, is clearly besotted by her boyfriend of 2 years, 39-year-old actor David Thewlis, and rumours are that nowadays the party girl prefers a takeaway in bed to a night on the tiles.

Professionally, too, Anna is breaking new territory, proving herself to be a versatile and talented actress. Over the past three years she has received accolades for her role in the Broadway hit Closer, and appeared as the raunchy Lulu on stage at the Almeida Theatre. Breaking Hollywood still eludes her, but only just – she was narrowly beaten by Cameron Diaz in auditions for Martin Scorsese’s film Gangs of New York. Anna has recently been on our screens in the ‘40s love story The War Bride and, on a break from filming her latest project Watermelon in Dublin, she spoke to OK! About her new releases, her relationship with David Thewlis and her plans for the future.

Anna, tell us all about your new film, The War Bride…

It’s the story of two East End good-time girls who marry Canadian soldiers and move to Canada during World War Two. Lily, my character, thinks she is marrying a wealthy man, but when she arrives, she realises he is just a poor farm boy. It is essentially a love story and a feel good story about strong women, friendship and overcoming the odds.

Was it hard filming in rural Canada?

The look on my character’s face when she sees the bleak Canadian landscape sums it up, but she makes the best of the situation and wins through in the end. I felt that way about the location, but I was only there for a matter of weeks – Lily was there for the rest of her life! But I was in every scene every day, so I was kept busy.

Were the rest of the cast a support?

I had great chemistry with Julie Cox, who played Sophie, and Brenda Fricker was inspirational – particularly the way she got into it and started plucking chickens! We are working together again in Dublin at the moment; she’s brilliant and has become one of my best friends.

Did you identify with your character in the film?

When I play a new character if I don’t immediately identify with her I find a way to draw parallels with my own life and with a character’s hopes and fears. I live the strength Lily has and admire her balls. She is the kind of person everyone wants to be, but she is tougher than I am. She never feels sorry for herself and keeps busy when she is sad. I do that too.

You have played the part of a World War Two heroine before in The Land Girls. Is this a similar role?

The only similarity to The Land Girls is the period and that I play a ballsy woman. But Land Girls was such a great experience I wanted to do something similar.

You say your grandfather played a part in the war effort. Was it emotional re-enacting that time in history?

The ‘40s were a really romantic period, despite the war, and that really comes through in the film. The War Brides were like arranged marriages in that they hardly knew their husbands. Lily only knew Charlie for 14 days, but somehow that adds to the romance. The touch of a hand meant more than a kiss and there was a different speed of living. The hardest thing was working with a shell-shocked character. For a woman to deal with a shell-shocked husband must have been very tough. The actor playing Charlie, my shell-shocked husband (Aden Young), really got into it, even off camera, which was not always easy!

You did a lot of research for the film and learnt some new skills, tell us about them….

I learnt a lot by reading diaries of the real war brides and on a practical level how to sew on a ‘40s treadle sewing machine, how to drive a ‘20s car, how to dance ‘40s dances and, of course, what it is like to have a baby!

You play a mother in The War Bride and you are playing a pregnant woman in Watermelon, the production you are working on at the moment. Are you feeling broody?

Getting to work with the kids in the film was one of the best things about The War Bride – a real comfort out in Canada. Of course I’m broody! I’m always broody, but I have to be disciplined and make sure I’m with the man I’m going to stay with and make sure I can make the sacrifices I need to give to a child. I think 26 is still a bit young though.

The costume designer for The War Bride won the Canadian equivalent of an Oscar for the film. Did you enjoy all the gorgeous ‘40s fashions you got to wear?

I love ‘40s fashion – I wish we could dress like that now. It is so flattering to the female body and so sexy. It’s what you can’t see, like suspenders and stockings…. And those tight waists! Howard Burden, the designer, was fantastic and made me feel good every day, which was not easy in some of the frumpy outfits, but it helped me get into character and we had the same ideas about what Lily should wear. Lily is like me in that if I feel miserable I choose a colour to lift me. And she wears what she wants even in the face of disapproval.

Making her own clothes is a big part of Lily’s character – are you ever tempted to try sewing yourself?

I mad clothes when I was at school, but that’s about it. It is an eye-opener to realise that in the ‘40s you had to make something out of nothing. Lily makes her wedding dress out of a tablecloth! It must be my genes though because my grandmother used to make her clothes in the war – and parachutes!

You were rushed to hospital with an ovarian cyst after filming The War Bride. How are you feeling now?

It’s taken me two years to get over it, but I’m a lot better. Actually it has been going on my whole life so I am lucky it has been dealt with now.

Being with David Thewlis you seem more settled. Are you partying less these days?

Everyone talks about me being more settled now that I am with David, but it’s not just him. I’ve grown up too! It’s going from 24 to 26. People ask me how I’ve changed and I wonder, was I really such a bad person? But I am a bit more settled now; I’ve found my feet a little more.

You have made no secret of how happy you are with David Thewlis – could we soon be hearing the sound of wedding bells?

Since I’ve come back from America, all everyone seems to be asking is: “Re you going to get married to David and have babies?” But he has not asked me and I haven’t asked him. It just isn’t the most important thing right now – but who knows what will happen….

You are very close to your mum and dad – in fact they even dressed up as extras when you were filming the wedding scene in The War Bride – what was that like?

My mum and dad always visit me on set. The costume designer dressed up my dada and put my mum in a glamorous fox fur, but in the end they were cut! It is strange for me to think about getting married because I have walked down the aisle on film so many times, I feel like I have already done it.

You are in great shape now – how do you stay looking so good?

I don’t really diet, but I don’t eat what I like. I used to, but the past few years I’ve had to watch it. It’s funny watching The War Bride because I was about a stone heavier, playing a character who has just had a baby and is stuck on a farm – I stuffed myself with meat and potatoes! I keep looking at myself on screen thinking, look at those chins! I liked having the boobs though. I’m back to my normal size now. I eat loads of chicken and fish, and I sometimes do the protein-carb thing, not mixing them. I combine it all with exercise now. I’m really into yoga, acupuncture and Reiki – just looking after myself.

You have always been central in the Brit pack of actors and actresses, such as Sadie Frost and Jude Law, but since you have been performing on Broadway in Closer you seem to have become part of the Hollywood scene. Do you enjoy the celebrity scene over there?

I’m not any more part of the Hollywood scene than I am the British scene. I film all over the world – it’s one of the best things about my job. Of the people I have come close to recently, Sting and Trudie Styler are the most important.

How do you cope being part from David – might you work on a film together now that he is directing and producing?

We haven’t worked together – I’m not sure it would be a good thing. Although of course I miss him when we’re both away. We haven’t seen each other for five weeks right now!

Your recent spell on Broadway in Closer has confirmed your versatility as an actress and established your reputation in America. Do you see your future in Hollywood or do you prefer theatre and smaller British movies?

It’s not as cut and dried as that. I do some television, then I do theatre on Broadway, then a big American movie, then people say I only want to do American movies and I’m going to live in Hollywood – it’s boring.

Where would you like your acting career to go next?

At the moment I’m doing comedy and I love it. It’s a romantic comedy as well, so it’s a stretch in a different direction. I am loving it, it’s the biggest joy when all the crew are laughing at the end of a take.

And would you ever go back to television?

I might do drama, something like that – not a soap again or a sitcom, although I love things like Sex And The City. I never like to say what I would do or wouldn’t do – you never know what is going to happen.

How do you feel about the fact that Brookside, where you launched you career, seems to be coming to an end?

At the time it was a great programme, but I’ve not really kept up with it. I don’t really have enough of an understanding of it now to know why it is ending.

What are your plans now?

I’m working on a movie in Dublin called Watermelom from a Marian Keyes novel. I play a pregnant girl so I have this huge prosthetic bump. It’s amazing how it changes the way you feel and the way you walk. I have been stuck in a Dublin accent for six weeks so it’s weird talking Rochdale again.

And after that?

I’ve got a few things in the pipeline, but I honestly can’t say what…..

Interview by: Karen Homer