Imelda Staunton - the queen of the screen

Dec 15 2008 By Kate Whiting

Imelda Staunton returns to the big screen in A Bunch Of Amateurs, released on Friday December 19. The veteran British actress discusses playing a starstruck B&B owner, how much her life changed after Vera Drake and those Cranford comeback rumours.

Imelda Staunton, the Bafta-winning stalwart of stage and screen, recently met The Queen at the Royal Film Performance of A Bunch Of Amateurs, which co-stars Sir Derek Jacobi and Burt Reynolds.

"She did say afterwards 'you must have had a lot of fun making it', so I think she found it quite funny, which was good," says Imelda, with a smile, when we meet on a crisp winter day.

The red carpet premiere also gave Imelda a chance to natter with Her Royal Highness about that most British of interests - the weather.

"We filmed it in the Isle of Man in February, which was pretty bloody grim, so it was cold and we did talk about that," she recalls.

The British comedy centres around ageing Hollywood action hero Jefferson Steel (Burt Reynolds), whose incompetent agent lands him the role of King Lear in Stratford-Upon-Avon - or so he thinks.

It's only when Jefferson arrives in the UK that he realises he's actually signed up to play the lead for an amateur dramatic society's version of Lear in Stratford St John, Suffolk.

Imelda, 52, is well-loved for her ability to ease effortlessly between more serious dramatic roles, including her Oscar-nominated portrayal of Vera Drake, and more comic parts in pieces like last year's acclaimed Cranford.

In Amateurs, she plays Mary, a member of the Stratford Players and the starstruck owner of the B&B where the egotistical Jefferson has to stay.

"She's crazy about him, just thinks he's marvellous," she says, her twinkly eyes lighting up.

"She's pathetically flirty and ridiculous and really thinks he's the bees knees. She protects him and adores him and she's so excited that he's there in her house."

So is there a glimmer of romance between the pair? "She'd love that, but I can't tell you," Imelda says coyly.

When Jefferson arrives in the country village, he's shocked to find there are none of the celebrity comforts of Los Angeles, and the B&B is a far cry from the five-star hotels he's accustomed to.

"He's trying to phone downstairs and that doesn't work, and there's only an old fishing programme on television. He's got none of the perks at all, so Mary goes out to find all of the bits of food that he's demanded - you know like guava juice, and she's so excited that she's managed to find it."

As the media frenzy around him grows, Jefferson slowly accepts he'll have to knuckle down and perform in King Lear for the sake of his flagging career, but there's a serious challenge for the role from Nigel (Derek Jacobi) - the Stratford Players' ousted leading man.

"There's a brilliant double irony there, because you've got Derek Jacobi, who could of course play King Lear, but he's playing an amateur who thinks he's the star of the whole county - and it's funny, because he gets his comeuppance," Imelda reveals.

"It's great to see Derek playing that comedy because he's so well known for his great dramatic roles on stage and it's nice to see him having a bit of fun."

The shoot took place over six weeks on the Isle Of Man, which Imelda says was very easy because she knew most of her co-stars already from various theatre and TV productions over the years.

"It was nice for all of us, because we'd known each other before, so it wasn't like 'oh, well, we'll have to get to know each other'. Peter Gunn and Alistair Petrie had done Cranford with me, so it was good to have that shorthand."

London-born Imelda made her name as a stage actress through the grand tradition of repertory theatre after training at Rada.

Her film career took off in the early '90s, with roles in Peter's Friends, Much Ado About Nothing and Sense And Sensibility.

"I love that in film if things go wrong, you can really try to get it right, but in theatre, which I'm just about to do again, you have an audience there and if things go wrong, you've just got to keep going.

"Film and theatre demand different things from you, but you have to make sure you're at the top of your game in both worlds."

It was in 2004 as Vera Drake that Imelda really made an impact on the international film scene, gleaning a Bafta Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

But Imelda says the role didn't change her life dramatically.

"You've got a slightly higher profile and you get more scripts, but it doesn't mean quality comes in - quantity comes in. You've got more to sift through, which is a very lucky position to be in, but I have to be careful that I don't just take what's offered.

"I've really enjoyed doing films these last few years and I did an Ang Lee film this year in America, but I'm back doing theatre now - I start rehearsals soon for Entertaining Mr Sloane in the West End. So I'm doing stuff that I hope will stretch me."

We'll see Imelda on the big screen again next year in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, as the mother of the man behind the most iconic music festival of all time.

Herself a mother to 15-year-old Bessie with her actor husband Jim Carter, Imelda found it hard being away from home for the long US shoot.

"I don't go away very much, so that's the longest I've been away, so yes, it's difficult," she says, choosing her words carefully.

Imelda's clearly protective of her privacy and refuses to be drawn on her daughter's acting ambitions, even though the whole family appeared in Cranford.

She has said before that her daughter probably has an "unrealistic view of the profession" because she and Jim are so happy in it, "which is not really the norm at all".

So without wishing to offend her, it's on to more accessible subjects, such as the rumours of Cranford's return.

"It's a difficult one for the producers because they want us all to do it, but they haven't got the scripts yet," she admits.

"As far as we know, it should absolutely be happening at the end of next spring, so finger's crossed I say."

The BBC series won accolades on both sides of the pond for its portrayal of pre-industrial rural English life and was a ratings hit in households around the country.

Imelda, who played the ludicrously funny village gossip, Miss Pole, says she was completely overwhelmed with the response it received - more than anything she'd done before.

"Oh God, every day there was something in the news, I was very surprised. You know every Monday morning, Terry Wogan was saying 'what about Cranford?' and I wonder why it got hold of people...

"I think it's because the body of the piece was this group of women who made decisions and stuck to them and had principles and honour and all those things that people really aspire to and that are sort of lacking in society.

"And it was funny, properly funny. It wasn't just 'ooh, will you be there for tea', it was really good fun."

IMELDA STAUNTON - EXTRA TIME

Imelda lives in London with her daughter Bessie and her husband Jim Carter, two doors away from Emma Thompson, who's one of her best friends.

She married fellow actor Jim in 1983 and gave birth to their only daughter 10 years later. Bessie had a small role in Cranford, while her father played the widowed Captain Brown.

Imelda is best known by children around the globe for her role as Dolores Umbridge in last year's Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix.

She also appeared in Three And Out earlier this year, a quirky black comedy starring Mackenzie Crook and Bond girl Gemma Arterton.