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Posts: 1662
Jan 11 09 4:27 AM
Sometimes, on a bad day, I see myself on screen and I think I look like Bilbo Baggins - I've got a touch of the hobbit about me. These big old green eyes and a face which sometimes looks great but usually just looks funny. I actually think that's quite nice, it's interesting. I'm not too hung up about that kind of thing. I don't worry if people think I'm ugly or beautiful - I just worry about being a nice person.
I know I'm not the most beautiful girl in the world but I'm all right, not too bad. Like most people, some days I look good, some days I look rough - I think I've got quite a healthy, realistic approach to it all. That's probably because my looks aren't really my currency - I clearly don't look like a supermodel, so that's never been my number-one priority. If it was, I'm sure I'd find it very difficult. I mean, if you're a celebrity you tend to get cast for yourself, but if you're an actor you're cast on the ability to transform yourself.
Sometimes the director will have a certain look for a character in their head, but you can't actually allow yourself to worry about that because there's nothing you can do. If they are like, "Oh, I thought this character should be tiny and Anne-Marie's five foot seven", well, that ain't gonna happen is it, however hard I act?
I just try to be different in each character I play because they are all very different women. I'm really lucky because every time I do something I don't tend to look much like myself at all - I'll have all my hair chopped off or I'll be wearing a wig or whatever. So I seldom get recognised.
I know there's been quite a furore over Shameless [Paul Abbott's Channel 4 comedy drama], but I'm staying on the west coast of Ireland at the moment so I've missed it all. I'll see when I get back, when I'm mooching about the shops, if I get any reaction and get recognised - I might do because Fiona [her character in Shameless] is the closest to how I look normally. I had a great time playing her because I had the chance to be quite gregarious. She's interesting because she's strong but she's also got an intriguing vulnerablity. I'm 33 and she is supposed to be 20 - I tend to play people who are a wee bit younger than me anyway, which is very flattering.
When I was in The Magdalene Sisters, it was important for the story-telling process to not feel terribly attractive. Any sexuality you had was wiped away from you. We had a laugh about it and would joke that when we finished we were all going to go and have our legs waxed. Playing Fiona was completely different - she's got that lovely glamour that a lot of girls have. It's not about how much you've got it's about how you use it. You might not have a lot of money but you can still be quite a peacock and dress up. I loved that. It's funny because I found guys really like that look - you don't think they would so much, but yeah, they do. They would laugh and make comments on the set. It was a giggle and it made me feel quite flirty. Myself and the costume designer went shopping for Fiona's clothes. It's all part of the character creation process - you start to find things and think, "Oh, that's so her, of course she'd wear that."
As an actor you're dead lucky because you get to see yourself in so many different ways. Most women, when they get married, put on a dress and it's astonishing for them to see themselves look so transformed. Whereas I'm completely used to seeing myself in very different lights. It's great fun. That makes it sound like acting is all about dressing-up, but it isn't - it's just a really nice part of the job. Source
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