Actress sticks up for beloved home city

Aug 15 2008 by Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

AWARD-WINNING Liverpudlian actress Rita Tushingham has hit out in the wake of the right-wing think tank’s report that her home city is beyond saving.

Ms Tushingham, who was guest of honour at Fact Picturehouse, in Wood Street, last night for the provincial premiere of her latest film, Puffball, said: “The changes here have been incredible – I love the new Arena – and everyone is on an up.

“This is a really jumping city at the moment, so where are they coming from these people and why do they always want to have a go at us?

“And that photo they put in the Daily Mail after the report came out showing all the boarded-up houses and nothing else, that was outrageous. Liverpool is very important to me, and has helped to form me into the person that I am.”

The actress, who started in rep at Liverpool Playhouse and sprang to fame in the 1962 film, A Taste of Honey, visits the city on a regular basis and stays here with elder brother Peter and his wife, Beryl.

She was last here only a couple of weeks ago for the presentation of an honorary fellowship by John Moores University to her friend, acclaimed Knotty Ash-born independent film producer Norma Heyman.

This time she’s back to see Puffball, a supernatural thriller based on a Fay Weldon novel of the same name, filmed by the veteran British film director and cinematographer, Nicolas Roeg.

Set in modern-day rural Ireland, in it she plays the unnerving part of a witch who endeavours to use ancient magic to conjure up a son for her daughter, played by Miranda Richardson.

“Nicolas Roeg is just a dream to work with and to have the role that I had was something that was quite special,” said the 66-year-old star who participated in a Q&A session with the audience after the Picturehouse screening.

“My character, Mollie, is not a bad witch, she’s just doing what she feels she has to out of grief for herself and love for her daughter.

“But I did draw the line about reciting something which I discovered was an actual spell. I didn’t want to say those things because I do believe there is a power that you can tap into and which should be left alone.”

The part has come at a prolific time in her career with a number of other movies in which she stars due for release. “It’s like the buses – you wait ages for one to come along and then they all come at once,” she said with a laugh.

They include mystery thriller The Hideout, romantic drama Broken Lines, Telstar about the tragic life of legendary British record producer Joe Meek, and The Calling, in which she plays Sister Gertrude, a nun who happens, just like the actress herself and her daughter Aisha, to be a massive Liverpool fan.

She explained: “I come from an Everton household, but I’ve always been a Liverpool supporter. It’s not just the team, it also provides such a link with the city for me.

“I love being here. It’s hard to explain but you’re always made to feel accepted, that you are part of everything.”

mikechapple