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Natasha
Little Interview - BBC
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She
may not have the highest profile, but in terms of parts, Natasha Little
is arguably one of the most successful of the cast of that eccentric cult
hit, This Life. Just as she was nursing the bruise given her by Milly in
the famous wedding scene at the very end of This Life she was signed up
for ITV's Far From The Madding Crowd - and for parts in Cadfael and Big
Women. She's also been offered the lead role in The Clandestine Marriage
with Timothy Spall, and on November 1st you can see her as Becky Sharp in
the BBC's forthcoming Vanity Fair.
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Did
you have a hard time when you had to ride a horse in Vanity Fair?
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Well,
I think the horses had been standing around just that little bit too long
in the rain. We should have used motorbikes, but Marc (Munden, director)
wouldn't buy it. So they did what horses do - kick their legs up in the
air. That's their nature, I suppose. I managed to stay on, but I'll be interested
to see what that shot looks like.
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Do
you think Becky Sharp is a classic heroine?
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Heroine
is a big term. There's lots to admire in her but I wouldn't hold her up
as a role model for men - or women. She does some terrible things but she
gets away with them. I don't know if heroine is the right term, but certainly
her complete lack of moral baggage is wonderful.
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What
do you think she could have been if she had lived in the 1990s?
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She
is such a whole character that I find it a bit limiting to say if she was
here today she would be a celeb, or one of these people that you read about
in magazines. I think she is certainly liberated from her time, but she
is a woman of her time - she was limited by the structures of that society
and if she were here today she would be limited by a different set of boundaries.
But she would extend those boundaries and who knows, she might become something
we haven't yet discovered
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You
said you didn't know Vanity Fair at all before you got the part. Were you
surprised by the sort of book it is?
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I
suppose because I knew it was a similar period I had some preconceived ideas
that it would be like Jane Austen. So it was quite exciting to read and
to discover that it was a bit more dangerous than that. I first auditioned
for Amelia (Becky Sharp's squeaky-clean best friend) and read it with bias
towards that character. When that didn't work out I went back and read it
with all my loyalty to Becky and completely changed my opinion of her.
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Did
you end up wanting to slap Amelia?
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Yes
I suppose I did.
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Did
you pick up any tips from Becky?
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None
that I would admit to. But I still feel very attached to her - she still
makes me smile.
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Do
your friends think you've changed since playing the part?
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(laughs)
It's funny that - I haven't got any friends now, whereas before I'd always
thought of myself as quite popular. No, I haven't stolen their husbands
or abused their children or thieved their jewellery.
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