The Independent
Published: 12 March 2007
Author: Elisa Bray
Anna Maxwell Martin, 28, who played Esther in 'Bleak House' and is starring as Sally Bowles in 'Cabaret' at the Lyric Theatre in London, plays Cassandra Austen in 'Becoming Jane', out now in cinemas.
My character Cassandra Austen in Becoming Jane...
Is Jane Austen's sister and she's terribly sensible and gets her heart broken. It's very sad. She's the levelling force for Jane Austen, the wild one. She tries to get her back in line, but fails miserably. We had a good time filming in rainy Ireland.
If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be...
Talking to my friend, who's just had a baby six weeks early. She's in the hospital now holding a little premature baby. I'm desperate to see her.
I wish people would take more notice of...
My big thing is the environment, but people are starting to sit up and take notice now. My dream is to go to the country and build an eco-friendly house, but at the moment I'm stuck with energy-saving light bulbs.
A common misperception of me is...
That I only wear a corset. Everyone thinks I just do parts that require corsets, but it's not the case. And that I'm always crying. I cry a lot in my parts, but I don't cry much in real life. I'm a happy person.
The most surprising thing that ever happened to me was...
I don't believe in fate, so I don't find things a surprise.
I'm not a politician but...
I would love to go on Question Time. It's my second-favourite programme after Coronation Street. I'm quite argumentative. Hopefully one day when I'm better read, I can go on and comment and row. I just love the programme.
I'm good at...
Being very loud and obnoxious and saying the wrong thing all the time.
But I'm very bad at...
Baking. I bake when I'm really depressed and I am the worst baker in the world. I had to bake the christening cake when my friend got married. I burnt it and hope she'd forget, but they conceived on the wedding night and that bloody cake was brought out of the freezer nine months later and it was a disaster.
The ideal night out is...
Staying in. I'm out every night at the moment doing a show, so I can't wait to stay in watching Coronation Street. I miss it terribly.
In moments of weakness I...
Bake. When I was at university if I had insomnia I used to bake and my housemates would find a really hideous cake in the morning.
You know me as an actress, but in a truer life...
I'd hope I'd be running a little tea shop in the countryside. I'd love that.
The best age to be is...
Now. Whatever age you are. Make the best of it and get on with it.
In a nutshell, my philosophy is this:
The Serenity Prayer.
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