TV Quick (7-13 March 1998)
Love will come when I'm happy......Anna Friel will hardly be off our TV and cinema screens in 1998, starting with Our Mutual Friend which begins on BBC2 this week. Here she talks of how she fought back from rock bottom...
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Anna Friel looked like a rabbit caught in headlights. Twelve months ago Anna Friel looked like a rabbit caught in headlights as she was hounded by photographers following her rmessy split from Darren Day.
Less than a fortnight after the break-up he was dating Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw and Anna was devastated. But Anna's a different person these days. The long dark tresses of Brookside's Beth Jordache have been replaced with a striking red bob and her eyes are smiling again.
It's lunchtime at Anna's trendy West London fiat but she's is still in bed. And who can blame her. She's been working non-stop for 18 months and is suffering the effects of jet lag, after flying in from Singapore. There she teamed up with Ewan McGregor to make Rogue Trader, a film about disgraced money dealer Nick Leeson.
'My life has been so hectic that even Ewan was telling me to slow down by the end,' she says. 'Last year was a big one for me and I was glad to see the end of it.
'But I wouldn't change a single thing that's happened. Not the Darren thing, not anything - because it's all made me grow in some way,' she reveals.'My little bubble burst and it brought me down. I didn't allow myself to feel anything for three months and I hit rock bottom,' she continues. 'But then I decided it was time to face things. After that I grew stronger and learnt a hell of a lot.' Hearing her talk so lucidly it's easy to forget that Anna is still only 21.
Since the split, she's been linked to several men, but she says she's not seeing anyone at the moment. One of the men she was seen out with was former Take That singer Robbie Williams, who's spent time in a clinic for alcohol and drug dependency. And she even gets a thank you from him on the sleeve of his current album.
'Robbie's a very special friend and I hope I was there for him. He said I was his saviour, but I was just there to help him along the way,' she says.
So does she still believe in love? 'I live to love. I love being in love. I'm a total soppy, romantic, pathetic thing. All I really want to be is loved, and as soon as I find the person who can give me back as much as I'm willing to give, there will be no need for me to want anything else again.
'My mum and dad met when they were 18 and have been together ever since. They would never dream of being apart and I want that, too. But I can't go and look for it. It will only come when I'm happy within myself. One of my New Year resolutions was to give people a chance and make myself a bit more open to dates. I tried before, but I didn't really find anyone attractive last year. Now the phone is always ringing and people are asking me out. It's great and it makes me feel very special. But I think: "Do they like me for me?"
'I was really scared of being alone to start with, scared of not having something constant in my life. Wlien you're going from one film to another, you're really good friends with people for eight weeks, then it's gone. But if you're in a relationship, you know you can always get on the phone and talk to that person.'
These days she relies on her mum and dad or her new best friend Monique for heart-to-heart chats. She met the Australian back-packer in a Singapore bar where Nick and Lisa Leeson used to drink.
Anna invited Monique to London at the end the shoot, with a view to her working as her personal assistant, and the pair are now sharing Anna's flat 'I used to spread myself very thinly and freely,' says Anna. 'But now I have a few people I love and trust completely.'She's looking forward to showing viewers the new Anna Friel in a collection of strong dramas over the next 12 months, starting with Our Mutual Friend. In it she plays witty and charning Bella Wilfer, who is determined to marry into money until she learns the evil money can do.
So what's the secret of her transformation ? 'Being positive. If we all believed in ourselves the world would be a better place. I'd never have got over the failed relationship if I looked at it negatively. But now I don't think about it.. .ever.
'That's weird,' she adds, as if it's only just dawned on her. 'From thinking about it every single waking moment - even when I didn't realise it - now I don't think about it at all.'
- Mary Comerford