Emily Mortimer

Dear Frankie

Interviewed by Anwar Brett

鈥There's something refreshingly unapologetic about the emotion of it - it feels very human so it doesn't seem too sentimental 鈥

In a few short years Emily Mortimer has established herself as one of Britain's most versatile and in-demand film actresses. From Scream 3, to the indie hit Lovely & Amazing, the Shakespearean romance Love's Labour's Lost, the gritty Young Adam and Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things, she has avoided repetition. Dear Frankie is different again, a tough but touching tale of a mother's sacrifices for her young deaf son. Since the film Mortimer, and husband Alessandro Nivola, have become the proud parents to a son of their own, Sam.

Some might consider you an unusual choice for Dear Frankie's put-upon, Glaswegian single mum - did that make you apprehensive when you chose the role?

People have asked me whether it difficult for a so-called 'posh' girl to play this role, but that wasn't what made me nervous. First of all it's not the point of the film. For while it's set in a specific time and place, it could be anytime, anywhere. So that didn't bother me, although of course I wanted to be truthful. I felt like as long as I could find her voice somehow and get the accent right I felt like I could somehow imagine it.

Your accent is great. Did you keep it going between takes?

I can't do that; I wish I could. The odd thing is if you asked me to do the accent now I would find it very difficult unless I was also playing that part, because I associate it so much with entering into the role and stepping into someone else's shoes.

Dear Frankie is a sweet tale, but thankfully not overly sentimental. Were you ever worried it might turn too schmaltzy?

We were all aware of this fine line that we had to keep on the right side of, and I think in the end we did. Shona Auerbach did a great job directing it. There's something refreshingly unapologetic about the emotion of it - it feels very human so it doesn't seem too sentimental. I feel a lot of that is down to Shona. I was making choices to not be sentimental all the way along, but there are moments now I've had a baby of my own where I think I might have held back too much.

How do you mean?

There's a scene where I'm sitting on the bed with Frankie, and I'm breaking some bad news to him. I was so aware that this long lingering shot of us together, in this grave moment, might seem soppy. So I decided to sit there with him instead of doing anything emotive. Looking at it since I've become a mother it was clear to me that if that had been my little boy, I would have held him as tight as I could have at that moment. So in some ways I look at it critically, thinking that I chose to go the other way sometimes too much. It's interesting how having had a baby suddenly informs how you watch it again.

Given that you weren't a mum at the time, did you model your screen relationship with Frankie - played by Jack McElhone - on anyone?

I was very aware of Jack's relationship with his real Mum. She was his chaperone, and they have a very close relationship - you realise they're kind of best friends after spending some time with them. There's something fantastically unsentimental about the way that they get on with each other. It's got nothing to do with big gestures of emotion, it's totally unspoken. The love you have for your new baby is unlike anything else you've known before, something you can't possibly begin to understand before you experience it yourself.

We're going to see you next opposite Steve Martin in the remake of The Pink Panther. Who do you play?

I'm Inspector Clouseau's secretary, a Miss Moneypenny character who has this vague crush on him. I'm very perky and French, very organised but just as physically inept as he is. So whenever we're in a room together complete chaos ensues. We get into situations where my legs get wrapped around his face, and it looks terribly compromising but in fact is quite innocent.

Dear Frankie is released in UK cinemas on Friday 21st January 2005.