Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Actor who rose to fame as Rose in the film 'Titanic' and has since become a leading British actress with numerous awards.
On the island
Eight records
Georgia on My MindFavourite
Roger Winslet (vocal) with Sophy Breckinridge (piano)
Hoagy Carmichael / Stuart Gorrell
disc is the castaway's dad singing it; described as 'his piece that he leans on'
Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs
castaway says: 'we would dance and dance and dance on the threadbare, not very nice brown carpet of our little rental house'
children insisted – 'Mama, you have to have Kiss from a Rose by Seal. You just have to.' Castaway says it made her feel bold as a terrified young driver.
George Gershwin / DuBose Heyward / Ira Gershwin
castaway says 'I sung this at his funeral' (referring to late boyfriend Stephen Tredre)
castaway says: 'I used this song consistently throughout the shooting of Mare [of Easttown]'
castaway says: 'We listen to it in the car, just me and the kids … it gave me a real feeling of, oh yes, I can do this being on my own thing with my children.'
dedicated to friend 'Lemon'; lyric misheard as 'in the quivering forest, we'll be swimming with dolphins' – castaway says 'this song's really for Lemon'
castaway says: 'Ned and I … we leap around the room to it. It's pure netty energy.'
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:16You said you want to 'be' your characters rather than just play them – what is the difference? Is it a feeling or something in your approach?
It's almost how I feel like I taught myself to act. … I remember … when I was five … my mum was yelling at me to stop tap dancing … shouting upstairs to my sister … And I just remember … the hustle and bustle of this life. If somebody had a video camera on all of us, it would sort of seem like acting because that's what people do on television. They just are people. So maybe there's no such thing as acting. Maybe it's just being.
Presenter asks
4:05What was it like acting [in Goodbye June] and directing the same project at the same time?
It was proper end-to-end experience, and I loved it … But in the edit I had to get very good at watching myself. … it's a very weird experience watching yourself because we don't do films so that we can watch ourselves in them. We do films so that other people can see them.
Presenter asks
18:08You started at Redroofs Theatre School at 11 – was there pressure to get work to help pay for it?
Oh yeah, and I remember my mum saying to me, 'you've got to get more voiceovers, you've just got to, darling, because I'm sorry, but next time … you won't be able to go.' Luckily I was really, really good at accents … and that would be 60 quid or 65 quid a day, which was a lot of money when you were 11. And that would go straight into the school fees pot.
The keepsakes
The book
Gill Meller
And for me and for my family, turning to the outside is a way of staying grounded and being happy.
The luxury
I love coffee. I love the smell of it. I look forward to it. I fall asleep at night being excited about the coffee I'm going to have in the morning.
Presenter asks
34:53How did you deal with the media intrusion after Titanic – being followed by paparazzi and having your phone tapped?
I had a handful of really wonderful friends … and my neighbours … Giorgio and Plaxi … she just looked after me … she'd ring … 'Listen, George has just made a lovely pasta … I'm going to pop some on the garden wall' … And it meant the world to know that someone was there.
Presenter asks
36:55When you were being followed by paparazzi with your small children, how did you deal with that kind of intrusion?
You just keep your mouth closed, you put your head down, Lauren, and you keep walking and you try and put your hands over your children's ears. You lean on your friends, you just keep going. A good meal, a shared conversation, nice cup of coffee, yeah, a bit of radio head and a good poo, you know? Life's all the better for those things, don't you think?
Presenter asks
38:09You've taken publications to task for digitally altering your image – why was it important to you to call them out?
If we don't, we are just stuffed. … I didn't sign up for that. … I also realized that nobody else was calling them out on it. … Not in an aggressive way, but just saying, I don't look like this. … I didn't want any young woman … to look at that image and think, 'oh my God, I want to look like that.' … That's the same message I've always tried to give. … having a face that moves. … I want to play characters who have wrinkles and crow's feet and a face that's changing with age … That's life.
“You lot, who were in my year at school, you were bloody horrible to me, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“I was on and off diets from the age of fifteen to nineteen and eventually when I was nineteen I was barely eating. … it's the only thing in my life I really regret.”
“I didn't want to be famous, Lauren. I really didn't. … it's not necessarily an easy path to walk and to stay sane and hang on to your sense of self … I wasn't ready for that world.”
“How appalling it was when the British media started calling me … awful, terrible, actually abusive names. … It was an utter disgrace and shame on every single one of them. And thank God they don't do that now.”
“I live my life with intention and integrity, having a face that moves. … I want to play characters who have wrinkles and crow's feet and a face that's changing with age and a body that's moving with the passing decades. That's life.”
“The first time I ever saw Ned was arriving at the airport … those airport sliding doors opened like that. And there was Ned going ray like this with his arms in the air. And I looked at him and I thought, 'Oh, it's you' and I just … I felt like I'd taken off.”