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Anna Friel: Motherhood isn't easy

Now Magazine - Found Jun. 28, 2009
June 2009 Anna Friel says she struggled to juggle work and motherhood.

Posted on June 28, 2009, 5:13 am

Anna Friel vows not to

Malaysia Sun - Found Jun. 27, 2009
London, June 27 : Actress Anna Friel has pledged not to mirror 'an Audrey Hepburn impression' in the West End show of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Friel 'won't play 'Tiffany's' like Hepburn' - Digital Spy
Anna has a Tiff... - The Sun
Anna Friel vows not to 'do Hepburn impression' in West End show - NewKerala.com
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The Sun

Posted on June 27, 2009, 12:55 pm

Anna Friel: It's tough being a mum

Thelondonpaper - Found Jun. 24, 2009
View gallery ANNA FRIEL has told of her struggle to combine her acting career with motherhood.

Posted on June 24, 2009, 12:21 pm

PICKING EMMY CONTENDERS: Bianco makes the case for shows, stars that ...

USA Today - Found Jun. 24, 2009
Anna Friel and Lee Pace made death charming on this canceled and visually beautiful series.

Posted on June 24, 2009, 8:46 am

Actress Anna Friel tells of the strain of being a working mother

Telegraph - Found Jun. 24, 2009
Anna Friel, the former Brookside star, has spoken of the strains of balancing her acting career with motherhood, saying she was once so tired she

Posted on June 24, 2009, 2:49 am

Anna Friel's Street Research

MaleFirst Mens Magazine - Found Jun. 19, 2009
Anna Friel met with a prostitute to research her role in 'The Street'.

Posted on June 19, 2009, 7:36 am

Anna Friel Land of the Lost Interview

Girl.com.au - Found Jun. 17, 2009
Interview BRITAIN'S ANNA GOES AND GETS LOST. EXCLUSIVE Anna Friel, Land of the Lost Interview by Paul Fischer. Britain's Anna Friel has had one of ...

Posted on June 17, 2009, 10:07 am

Anna Friel

Esquire - Found Jun. 8, 2009
RELATED LINKS: WOMEN WE LOVE: Find Them All Here MISS ACCESSIBLE: Anna Friel, A Woman We Endorse FUNNY JOKE: ... from Anna Friel

Posted on June 8, 2009, 12:10 pm

Anna Friel scared of Will

STV.tv - Found Jun. 8, 2009
Anna Friel admits she was nervous of shooting 'Land of the Lost' scenes with Will Ferrell because of his improvisation skills.

Posted on June 8, 2009, 10:18 am

Movies at a Glance for July 3

Sun Herald - Found 20 hours ago
PG HH C, G, R Land of the Lost Will Ferrell, Anna Friel and Danny McBride co-star in this big-screen reimagining of the 1970s TV series about...

Posted on July 3, 2009, 12:03 pm

Anna Friel Biography

Anna Friel
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Anna Friel
Born Anna Louise Friel
12 July 1976 (1976-07-12) (age 32)
Rochdale, England
Years active 1986—present
Domestic partner(s) David Thewlis (2001-present)
Official website

Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. She rose to fame in the UK on Channel 4 soap Brookside. Her most recent role had been starring as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, the female lead in the American television series Pushing Daisies. In the film Land of the Lost, she played a research assistant opposite Will Ferrell.

Contents

Early life

Friel was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the daughter of Julie, a special needs teacher, and Des Friel, a former teacher of French and owner of a Web Design Company.12 Friel's Irish Catholic father, a former folk guitarist, was born in Belfast.345 Her brother Michael starred in the Hovis television adverts. She attended Crompton House Church of England High School, in High Crompton, Shaw and Crompton. She then attended The Oldham College in Oldham. Friel became interested in acting at an early age and received frequent praise for her work at local talent shows.6

Acting career

At the age of 13, she was hired for her first professional acting job in the Channel 4 drama serial G.B.H., as the daughter of Michael Palin's character. Her performance led to a series of appearances on various British television shows, including Emmerdale. In 1992, she was added to the cast on the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, where she gained greater exposure in the role of Beth Jordache. Though she only stayed on the programme for two years, Friel's lesbian kiss remains one of the most talked-about moments in British soap history.7 In 1995, Friel won the National Television Award for Most Popular Actress for her work on Brookside.

In 1996, Friel courted further controversy8 when she appeared in the television film The Tribe by Stephen Poliakoff, which included nudity and a much discussed ménage à trois sex scene between characters played by Friel, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Jeremy Northam.

In 1998 she appeared in the original Broadway run of Closer by Patrick Marber at the Music Box Theatre in Manhattan, United States winning a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World award for her performance as Alice. In 2001, she made her West End stage debut in London in a fringe production of Lulu which also transferred to Broadway.

Friel's film credits include playing Nick Leeson's wife Lisa in Rogue Trader opposite Ewan McGregor; David Leland's The Land Girls, which also starred Rachel Weisz and Catherine McCormack; All for Love with Richard E. Grant; A Midsummer Night's Dream as Hermia, opposite Christian Bale, Dominic West and Calista Flockhart; Timeline as Gerard Butler's object of affection; Me Without You opposite Michelle Williams; and Goal! and Goal! 2: Living the Dream....

Her television work includes the short lived The Jury for the Fox and ITV1's Watermelon which was based on the novel by Marian Keyes. In 2007 she started playing Charlotte "Chuck" Charles in Pushing Daisies, a new television series from the creator of Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls, on the American network ABC.9 In November 2008, creator Bryan Fuller stated that it had been cancelled due to poor ratings. The show ran for two seasons.

In the pilot season following the cancellation of Pushing Daisies, Friel was offered six pilots but declined all six roles in favour of focusing on her movie career.10

In November 2006, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Bolton for contributions to the performing arts.11

She has also been seen as the face of Pantene Pro-V Ice shine in the United Kingdom, appearing in both television advertisements and print advertising. She has also appeared in adverts on television for 3 Mobile and Virgin Atlantic Airways.

In May 2009, Friel confirmed that she will star in a West End adaptation of the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. The show is due to start in September 2009 at the Theatre Royal.12

Friel is due to star in a film 'London Boulevard' alongside Ray Winstone and Keira Knightley which is expected to be released in 2010. It also stars her real life partner David Thewlis.

Personal life

In 2001, Friel began a relationship with actor David Thewlis, whom she met on a flight to Cannes. Their daughter, Gracie Ellen Mary Friel,13 was born on 9 July, 2005, at Portland Hospital in London.

In 2008 Friel began supporting the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign in support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, alongside fellow celebrities, Alan Carr, Angela Griffin, Natalie Imbruglia, Edith Bowman and Twiggy.14

Friel advocates the work of the Burma Campaign UK, an NGO committed to bringing about change in the deeply troubled nation.

Awards and nominations

  • 2008 Golden Globe – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical Nomination for Pushing Daisies (nominee)
  • 2008 Satellite Awards – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical Nomination for Pushing Daisies (nominee)
  • 1999 Drama Desk Awards – Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for "Closer"
  • 1995 TV Times Awards – Best Actress
  • 1994 TV Quick Magazine – Best Newcomer

Honorary degree, awarded by University of Bolton.

Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
1991 G.B.H. Susan Nelson TV mini-series
1992 Emmerdale Poppy Bruce Episodes
1993 Medics Holly Jarrett Episode (#3.3)
1993-1995 Brookside Beth Jordache Episodes
1995 The Imaginatively Titled Punt & Dennis Show Episode (#2.1)
1996 Tales from the Crypt Angelica Episode ("About Face")
Cadfael Sioned Episode ("A Morbid Taste for Bones")
1998 The Land Girls Prue (Prudence)
Our Mutual Friend Bella Wilfer Episodes (#1.1, #1.2)
The Stringer Helen
The Tribe Lizzie
St. Ives Flora Gilchrist
1999 A Midsummer Night's Dream Hermia
Rogue Trader Lisa Leeson
Mad Cows Maddy
2000 Sunset Strip Tammy Franklin
An Everlasting Piece Bronagh
2001 The Fear Storyteller Recurring
The War Bride Lily
Me Without You Marina
2002 Fields of Gold Lucia Merritt TV film
2003 Watermelon Claire Ryan TV film
Last Rumba in Rochdale Bodney Voice actor
Timeline Lady Claire
2004 Perfect Strangers Susie Wilding
2005 Goal! Roz Harmison
2006 Irish Jam Maureen
Niagara Motel Denise
2007 Goal! 2: Living the Dream... Roz Harmison
Rubbish Isobel
2007-2008 Pushing Daisies Charlotte "Chuck" Charles Cast Member
2008 Bathory Countess Erszébet Bathory
2009 Land of the Lost Holly
2010 Angel Makers Lizzie

References

External links