Anna Friel – Charming the Hearts of Men

By starrymag | August 20, 2021

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

Q) Congrats on the upcoming release of your new dramedy Charming the Hearts of Men. In the film, which takes place in the early sixties, you play Grace Gordon, a Southern woman of privilege who returns to her hometown penniless and struggling to survive in a patriarchal world after her father dies. What was it about the role and film that made you want to sign on to the project?

Anna: Well, I think it was really that this woman, who was living a fun and rich life and when she realizes she has no money and she’s forced to support herself and she tries to get a job and she realizes that there were no jobs. I learned a lot, historically, and I really liked her spunk. I liked her enthusiasm. I liked her elegance in her steadfast manner to keep going in the face of adversity and to do it in the elegant way that she did and used the only assets that had any power at all, even if she had to be manipulative with them.

Q) The South during the civil rights and women’s movements, was a region ripe with pain from an unwillingness to change with the times. As someone who isn’t native to the region or era, did you find yourself becoming a U.S. history buff while preparing for the role?

Anna: Well, for prep, prior I was in Northern Ireland making “Marcella” [season] three, two weeks before I got to Georgia; Madison, Georgia, for which the differences were extreme. I went from sixty Fahrenheit to suddenly a hundred and eight degrees, and it’s the scene in the film where I was in the fur coat. [excitedly] That day it was one hundred and eight! It was roasting. It was humid, but also so picturesque and beautiful. I couldn’t understand why we’ve not seen Madison filmed more. I was really lucky to be part of it and going, “Oh my God! I’m part of this stunning scenery.” I was so excited to see houses that you see in film lore and Architectural Digest. The verandas that wrap around and swinging chairs and perfect white picket fences, I felt like I was walking into and surrounded by untouched history; is how it felt. The food, the hospitality; it was my first ever time in the South. I’d never been before.

Q) The film pays keen attention to the details of the period; from the costumes to the cars, to the set design, it nails the era, but what really seals the deal was the backdrop of Atlanta. Talk about filming on location in that city, what that experience was like and how it added to the tone of the film.

Anna: We had six weeks, and it was only shot in Madison, Georgia.

Q) Oh, so not in the city of Atlanta, but just outside of it in Madison?

Anna: Yeah, we didn’t have an opportunity to shoot in Atlanta. Not once. It was all in Madison and me and Pauline [Dyer] and Jill [Marie Jones] and my daughter Gracie (who came with me because she was on holiday) all shared a house together. So, we would go home, and all cook together and run our lines. And, so, I really got to experience the wonderful neighbors and that southern hospitality.

Q) What was your first impression of Grace when you read the script and did that change as you sank your teeth deeper into the portrayal?

Anna: Well, I think I’m a lot more outspoken and feistier and I don’t know how to keep the lid on it. And in certain scenarios with [Grace] there was a certain degree of acceptations and you just accepted that things wouldn’t change and that’s how it was. Then the fact there were no jobs, and you belonged to a man, I don’t know how you would keep one’s patience. For me, it’s about keeping up a constant smile. I thought “I can’t smile all the time!” but that was the persona that had to come across, but it was absolutely exhausting and… wait, what was your question again, I’m sorry?

Q) Sure, I was just wondering if your initial impression of Grace changed as you dug deeper into her character?

Anna: There was a sort of an elegance in keeping up the decorum, and in certain scenes I originally thought she was going to power through them knowing her voice would be raised, but no, she didn’t. She framed herself so well in that she would communicate in a strong yet graceful manner all the time; and there was a certain etiquette on how you sat, how you moved, very much dictated by the costumes you were wearing and of course the environment, the heat, the corsets, the pull-ins, the piping used to make that tiny waist, and those triangular bras that make us doll-like. At least we didn’t have to use high heels, but I adored the costumes because at that time, of course, there was no mass production, and the materials were of different quality. Everything would be made to measure and to fit.

Q) In 1964 society viewed women as if we were children unable to make informed choices for ourselves without male guidance to help us navigate the world. Things were different back then, and yet, the fight for full equality is still waging. As a working woman living in today’s imbalance of the sexes and who now has an up close and personal view of the women who came before us, was there anything you saw in grace or her life that you recognize in yourself today?

Anna: I’m a single mother, so I’ve always paid for myself, and I’ve worked since I was sixteen years old and I imagined myself being born and living in the sixties, thinking we wouldn’t even have that choice, you have to marry, and you’d have to rely on a man to be able to survive. It’s difficult enough being a woman with a full-time job and babies and having the option of being able to work. Can you imagine only sixty years ago there were only five jobs for women? Five! And now we’re in a world where there are over twelve million firms owned by women. We’ve come that far in sixty years. I mean, it’s important to look back and remember how far we’ve come in such a short space of time, and also how far we’ve got to go.

Q) The cast is fantastic! Kelsey Grammer, who plays your romantic lead, Congressman Worth, Dianne Ladd, and Sean Astin are just some of the beloved talents on this project. What can you tell us about working with them; maybe even some stories about living together during filming?

Anna: Well, yeah, it was the three of us Pauline and Jill living together, but about Kelsey – he was an absolute gentleman. I really like Kelsey. We got on very well. He’s not the “Frasier” man. [laughs] His accent was completely perfect, and I was enamored with that and like asking for little notes. I’ve always, to this day one of my favorite movies was The Goonies and one of my first crushes was on “Mikey” (Sean Astin) and it was a little embarrassing when I told Sean, “Oh my gosh! You were my first crush from my childhood!” It was a delightful and very talented cast. And no one was from the place we were shooting. It was a real location shoot. I was really excited to work with the only other English actor, Aml Ameen. I’d seen him in Idris Elba’s film, and he is supremely talented. He played Walter in this film, and I look forward to seeing him in many things; he’s a bright shining star. Everyone was just gorgeous, and the man who plays Abel, Henry [G. Sanders], I completely fell in love with him. He’s a gentle kind, kind, soul. I felt there was a lot of kindness within the cast. Such warmth.

Q) You mentioned Kelsey’s accent and fellow English actor, Aml. Did you all have some intense dialect coaching prior to filming and on the set?

Anna: Yeah, we did we had it during filming but not much during, mostly before but mine… Susan’s [DeRose] the director and writer has a very gentle voice with lots of air [speaking in a breathy southern drawl] and I wanted her to have that breathiness, like Susan, even if she was angry (not that I ever heard her angry). But everything was so rich and full of air very, very, feminine. Aml and Kelsey’s accent were so perfect; just so utterly perfect and brilliant.

Q) What do you hope fans take away from this film?

Anna: Well, I hope that they take basically the knowledge of how far women have come in less than seventy years. Some of the facts and figures make it hard to believe, but seventy years ago it feels more like seven hundred. And I think it’s a nice family film with delightful characters and I’d hope they take away how far we’ve come. And, I mean, it’s an introduction to the beautiful scenery of the South. If you’ve not been, people are going to want to go to the South because it’s that beautiful. I thought I could make, if you don’t mind, a shout out to the set design because Susan is incredible. She was over every single detail. I was impressed by the props and the production. It really felt like you were stepping back into 1964. Most of the crew came from Atlanta and we had an English director of photography who had just finished up with Downton [Abbey], so he understood period writing. The crews from Atlanta I’ve never worked with before, but they were really amazing. We were all kind of one big family in Madison, Georgia, which is rare because usually everyone goes back to their own prospective homes and their families, but a crew and the cast out on location was a really bonding sort of experience.

Q) I was, and am, enthralled with your other project, “Marcella.” I do not think I have simultaneously loved and loathed a character more than her. She is absolutely fascinating. What do you love most about working on this series? Any teasers as to if or when a new season could be coming our way?

Anna: It is this thing where she is really frustrating, right? Because you’d want to shout at the screen, “What are you doing?!” She’s surviving and she doesn’t know how to talk about mental health issues. She’s multifaceted and an incredibly complex character. I think what makes her kind of an anti-heroine and intriguing is never knowing what she’s going to do next. It makes you sit on the edge of your seat thinking, “Now, what is she going to do?” I’ve played her now for six years. We did make it as a trilogy. It was always going to be three series to tell the story and that was Hans [Rosenfeldt] and Nicola’s [Larder] thoughts as well. I think if you start to push it, you know you’re trying to bring a cough that’s dry. For me, it was the most incredible, incredible world I will forever ever be grateful. I miss it very much, but you never know. Maybe in years to come there might be another world or a way to bring her back. The next thing I’ve got coming out is called “The Box.” That’s all filmed in Kansas. She’s pretty dark. She’s also a cop. And I won’t go too much into that because we have to talk about Charming the Hearts of Men, but that is coming out and the next thing I’m about to start. It couldn’t be any more different from all of them, but we’re hopefully hoping to release that rich tapestry of character and entertain all sorts of audiences.

Q) Well, that all sounds exciting! I was just about to ask you about your future projects so the fans can keep an eye out for them, but it seems to me that you’ve been, and will be, spending a lot of time in the South of the United States.

Anna: Well, I think so since my next job is there again, I’ve just been shooting in Stockholm, but it’s set in Kansas and how they will turn Stockholm into Kansas is beyond my imagination. But we did and during a lockdown and during a pandemic and so, as the world starts to come out of this, we hope it can go back to normal and see people’s faces again because Charming the Hearts of Men will always sit in a very precious place of my heart because when I had just finished filming that we went into lockdown. It was this time two years ago when we started to shoot Madison and we gone back about six months later to do a few pickups, but when we were on set during the pickups people said, “Oh my God! You’re going to be trapped in America and blocked in,” and as it is I wouldn’t have been able to get back at all because to this day we still can’t fly to the states.

Q) That would have been a long lockdown for you!

Anna: It certainly would have been a long time away from my daughter since she didn’t come for the pickups, and I needed to get back to her. I feel incredibly lucky to be welcomed by the U.S. and I know I speak for other English actors; we feel honored to be able to come to your very beautiful country.

Q) What would you like to say to the fans and supporters of you and your work?

Anna: I would say thank you for watching me because, without you, I don’t have roles. So, I hope that I can keep entertaining you,