Mum's the word...

Anna Friel s back on the small screen this week as a mum-to-be torn between two men.

Anna Friel plays a woman whose life is about to get very complicated in the one-off romantic comedy Watermelon, based on the hit novel by Marian Keyes. She's Claire Ryan, who finds out she's pregnant by her ex. Now all she has to do is tell the current man in her life ! Anna stars with Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker, who plays her mum, Jamie Draven - he was Billy Elliot's brother - as her boyfriend James, and Ciaran McMenamin, who starred alongside Sarah Lancashire in Birthday Girl, as her ex, Adam.

Anna was delighted that shooting was in Dublin, one of her favourite cities. "It's the third time I've filmed there and I love it. There was a great family feel to it all and it was wonderful working with Brenda. We met while doing the film The War Bride and are good mates."

Unlike her character, Anna doesn't plan to have a baby just yet, but loved working with the newborn playing her child. "I always get excited over babies", she says. "It's great to pretend they're yours then hand them back at the end of the day. This one was very well behaved, it just ate and slept a lot".

Since leaving Brookside eight years ago, Anna has turned down many TV roles to focus on films and, at 26, now has a number of movies to her credit. With a Hollywood agent and new film Timeline due out in the States later this year, her gamble has paid off.

"I didn't want to crash and burn after Brookside, so I took work that I knew would make me better at my job. Hopefully, its paying off now", says Anna, who lives in Windsor with her actor boyfriend David Thewlis.

Unusually, the actress recently had time off between projects. "I was getting bored", she admits. "I'm so used to going from one job to another I found it hard".