Vanity Fair (April 1999)

Pick of The Glitter - Class of '99

Making the leap from television soap opera to feature films isn't easy. Anna Friel, 22, who spent two years on Brookside, one of the UK's most popular soaps says "I was one of the first to break that barrier and say 'Judge meon my talent rather than my credit list!' ".

After a year without much work, directors started listening, and in 1996 she earned a role in David Leland's World War II romantic drama, The Land Girls. Last year Friel filmed in 16 countries, with only four days off bewteen projects. She likes it that way. "I always take too much on because I work best under pressure" .

We'll see the results this year in Rogue Trader, a thriller with Ewan McGregor, in Michael Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream, due out this May, in which she stars as Hermia alongside Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer, and on Broadway, in Patrick Marber's Closer.

- Kim Kessler