News Archive 1998
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24 December 1998As it's now two months since anything was recorded here I thought I'd better just let you know that this page is still valid — I've just not seen much in the papers about Anna lately. I'll close the year with the news I've only just heard (though it was first reported back in June) that Darren Day, who left Anna for Coronation Street actress Tracy Shaw, has now given her the 'Spanish Archer' too. He is spending Christmas at his parents' in the company of Australian babe and ex-Home & Away starlet Isla Fisher. You can't really fault the guy's taste in ladies I suppose, but he has been engaged to all three in the space of the past 20 months. Isla, be warned! 23 October 1998It looks like I failed to check thoroughly enough a couple of weeks ago when my browser subscription alerted me to the fact that the official site had been changed. Thanks to SJR for pointing out that there are some new pictures there. The quality of the scans isn't great though, so rather just than copy the originals here I've put the 16 new ones into 4 files (anna98xx.jpg) on page 3 of the Others series. Nothing else appears to have changed. I've also just stumbled across a link to a fledgling site for the movie A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is scheduled for cinema release next Spring. Click here. 8 October 1998I am told that last Sunday's News of the World published a freephone number asking any readers who know Anna or have any tales to tell about her to ring in. There was no further explanation. Did anybody see this, or know what the point of it is? I guess that they're digging for sleaze to publish, though I can't imagine that there will be much (if any!). 19 September 1998Anna's official site continues to develop, so don't just nip there to see if it's been updated next time you visit. It appears she found the time to record some audio clips for the Site while she was home in Rochdale recently — stay long enough and you'll hear a series of short messages from her. And the 'Films' section is worth a visit now too! 17 September 1998According to the film magazine Premiere, Anna is soon to embark on a "low-budget British horror film, Blood Relative". Other snippets from the interview . . . Anna would still like to play Joan of Arc (see the entry from 9 March 1997), and she has apparently recently turned down a £1 million offer to record an album because "it would make me look tacky". 4 September 1998Looks like Anna's official site is getting a fresh new look. The contents are unchanged except for the 'Films' section that is 'under construction' (i.e. it's empty!), but the design is new and a vast improvement on the old site. Check it out. 2 September 1998Just a reminder (as if you could miss it) that Land Girls is released nation-wide this coming Friday (4th). 11 August 1998Anna has been appearing in some of the more highbrow publications in the past couple of days, today's Guardian following hot on the heels of Sunday's equally unenlightening Observer interview and Saturday's Telegraph magazine feature. Is it me or is it really the case that every article about Anna in magazines and newspapers goes over the same ground? You know the story — school, Brookie, 8-second prime-time TV lesbian kiss shock, parents are teachers, brother was in the Hovis ad, Darren's a git etc. etc. — the same potted history trotted out time and again for the past 3 years. And if I see just one more amusing 'Friel Good Factor' headline, I think I'll scream! Each interview usually throws up something new however. If I can find the time and there's enough interest (let me know) I may throw all my cuttings through some OCR software and stick them on the site. In the meantime, the latest news is that Anna intends throwing her considerable energies into forming her own film company. Talks are being held with potential financial backers, and Anna expects it to be off and running in 5 years' time. The girl plans long-term obviously, 9 August 1998A little more news of Anna's next project Mad Cows surfaced in one of yesterday's tabloids. Following her well-earned recent break from work filming starts again for Anna next month, and will include a day on location in Harrod's Food Hall. So, if you're in and around Knightbridge in a few weeks' time and see a notice that the Food Hall of London's most famous store is closed for the day, you'll know why. And if you are going to be there, don't forget to take that camera! You can expect to see a lot of Anna over the coming weeks as we close in on the nation-wide release of The Land Girls in the UK on Friday 4 September. 8 August 1998Among the more prolific contributors to the Homage Page is a splendid chap named Neil. He doesn't get the chance to provide much in the way of scans — between myself and SJR there's not too much that gets missed! — but he is turning into our resident sleuth. In the past few months he has alerted me to several Web links to film reviews and news items, and today he's come up with the following Reuters report regarding the movie Rogue Trader:- "The release of a film about Nick Leeson could be delayed or the script altered following news Thursday that the former trader — who brought down Barings bank in 1995 — is seriously ill in prison with cancer. "At the moment, I don't know if they are going to change it," one film industry insider told Reuters, adding that the film's backer, Granada Films, was reviewing its next step. "Rogue Trader," starring Ewan McGregor of the British film "Trainspotting" as Leeson, was due to be released early next year and is currently being edited following filming in Singapore, London, Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore's prisons department confirmed Thursday that Leeson, 31, who is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for fraud after his unauthorized derivatives trading broke Barings, had been diagnosed as having cancer of the colon. Leeson's lawyer in Britain said the cancer had spread to Leeson's lymph nodes, but he would not know anything further about the prognosis until next week. Lawyers are applying for Leeson to be released early from prison on medical and compassionate grounds, so that he can be close to his family who live in Watford, north of London. Film industry sources say "Rogue Trader" — based on Leeson's own tale of his fall from grace as the king of Singapore derivatives exchange SIMEX — has cost 8 million pounds ($13 million) to make. A Granada Films spokesperson declined to confirm the figure. The film is being directed by James Dearden, who briefly met Leeson in Changi Prison as part of his research. British broadcaster Sir David Frost, the film's executive producer, also interviewed Leeson when he was in jail in Frankfurt, Germany, and decided his story would make a perfect film. The high-flying trader was arrested in Germany as he attempted to return to Britain from Malaysia, where he had fled with his now ex-wife, Lisa, when he could no longer hide $1.4 billion in derivatives losses from his bosses in London. Lisa Leeson, who is played by British actress Anna Friel, has since divorced Leeson and is set to marry again. While the rewriting of film endings is not uncommon, film industry insiders said the latest twist to the Leeson saga would put the film makers in a tricky position." 18 July 1998Anna's official page has just had an update, and now includes a biography section. 12 July 1998Happy birthday to Anna, who is 22 today, and thanks once more to Neil for the following information on a new project to look forward to . . . "Actress Anna Friel is set to spend her second spell behind bars as she stars in a £3 million British movie version of bestselling novel Mad Cows. The actress, who was locked up in Brookside for her part in killing her father, will appear as main character Maddy, who is jailed after shoplifting in Harrods in the adaptation of the book by Kathy Lette. She will be joined in the film by Joanna Lumley, who plays maneater Gillian — a role remarkably similar to her Absolutely Fabulous character Patsy." The movie also stars Greg Wise and features appearances from Noel Gallagher, Meg Matthews, Mohamed Fayed, Marie Helvin, Jodie Kidd and Sophie Dahl. Look for a release late Spring '99. 8 July 1998There's another in-depth interview with Anna in the August issue of SKY magazine, which is on the news-stands today. All scans are now online. 29 June 1998Thanks are again due to Neil for this link to an audio review of The Land Girls. 21 June 1998The new Littlewoods catalogue is now out, but the bad news is that Anna is no longer modeling for them. Still, at least The Tribe is on tonight! 16 June 1998Thanks to Neil for digging out another review of The Land Girls (I see there's a 'The' in the title these days). This one is currently up at the CNN web site. Open a new window to the site here, or try this link to the movie's official web site. 12 June 1998Looks like SKY magazine has come up trumps again. The teaser for next month's edition (on sale from 8 July) headlines with "Anna Friel invites us into her boudoir". Don't miss it, and thanks to Doug Holmes for the tip! 7 June 1998Anna is interviewed in today's Sunday Times, which reports that The Tribe will be screened on BBC2 in two weeks' time — on Sunday 21 June, which is the same date that it is being shown at the Duke of York cinema in Brighton (see the entry from 28 May for more on this). There are several other items of interest, including a denial by Anna of reports earlier this year that she was unhappy about the nudity and sex scenes in the film. One piece of bad news however is her assertion that her 'babe days' are now over. Oh no, are we never to see what FHM's photographers would have come up with?! Thanks to Peter Earl for alerting me to the interview in time to rush out and get a copy. 5 June 1998Those among you who travel with any regularity on the Virgin train service will have noticed that Anna is on the cover of their Summer 1998 passenger magazine. Shame on you for not alerting me sooner! The scans from the accompanying article are, as with all new arrivals, on the Home page. 90% of the text reveals nothing new. Anna is described as a "poster babe and screen chameleon", an "aromatherapy-loving hippychick" and a "scatty, bright, earnest, vulnerable ganglion of moodswings and contradictions". And when she sings she still sounds like a cross between Joni Mitchell and Enya. Two items are however worthy of note: Anna evidently turned down an offer of her own US TV drama series, presumably made on her visit to LA recently, because the producers were insisting on a five-year contract; and it appears that the movie adaptation of St. Ives will be released under the title All For Love. Finally, thanks to Calum Thornton for news of one of the first showings in the UK of the soon to be released Land Girls. He mailed me with the following:- "There is going to be a premier of Land Girls in the Winchester Festival. The date I think is 7th July at 8pm, at the Screen in Winchester, Hants." 28 May 1998I am indebted to Tim Short for informing me of a forthcoming screening of The Tribe. Tim mailed me yesterday with the news that an independent cinema in Brighton — the Duke of York — will be showing the movie next month. It was then only a matter of getting the phone number from directory enquiries to confirm that the movie will be screened at 3:30pm on Sunday 21 June. The movie's director Stephen Poliakoff will be attending, and will chair a question and answer session at the venue immediately after the showing. The cinema will be contacting me with any further information - including whether Anna will be there — so keep an eye on the 'What's New' page for any more updates. The cinema is located at Preston Circus, Brighton. Telephone bookings (on 01273 602503) will be taken approximately 10 days prior to the screening. The film is rated 18 and prices are £3-00 (£2.75 for students, OAPs and the unwaged on production of UB40). 3 May 1998The UK release date for Land Girls will be this coming September according to film magazine Empire. This contradicts Anna's recent Real Audio™ message on her official site, in which she said that the movie was due in April with St. Ives following in May. As April has now been and gone it looks like the later date is odds-on favourite! 17 April 1998According to a report in one of today's papers Anna broke off from filming in Italy recently to fly to LA where she was interviewed for a part in a major Hollywood film. More details as they emerge. The report also included another glowing testimonial for Land Girls, her performance in which has brought her to the attention of the big studios. Anna is described as giving an "absolutely fabulous and realistic" performance, and of showing an "unexpected comic timing". The reporter was clearly taken with the movie:- "I have laughed and cried at this film twice, and most audiences will find it deeply touching. It is a film that must not be allowed to get lost among the blockbusters, neither should it be marketed as an art-house flick. It must be allowed to enjoy a popular success". 16 April 1998Yet another update to Anna's official site tonight, with more responses to your e-mail messages. 9 April 1998Another update to Anna's official site tonight, with more responses to your e-mail messages. There are also the promised couple of .wav and Real Audio™ messages, including the news that Land Girls will be screened in April and St Ives is due in May. I'm still unclear though whether these are to be cinema releases before they hit the small screen - anyone know any more? 2 April 1998There is a section devoted to Anna on the GQ Magazine web site at the moment. It looks like the sort of thing that will only be there while the April edition of the mag is current, so if you want a butcher's you'd better get over there quick! 13 March 1998Anna has just posted more replies to your questions on her official site. 12 March 1998In case you hadn't worked it out from the latest batch of thumbnails or seen it in the newsagents, Anna is on the cover of the April issue of GQ magazine which went on sale yesterday. There's an interview in the mag itself, and you can even catch her in a brief Director format movie on the accompanying cover CD. 10 March 1998An interview with Anna appears in this week's Radio Times. According to the magazine it can currently be heard at www.rtguide.beeb.com. Click on the URL to jump there now, but I couldn't find it tonight. I did find the snippets of info. in the gossip pages, and the Anna wallpaper they are offering as a download (the front cover of last week's RT without all the magazine text), but the interviews in the Andrew Duncan section did not include Anna's. 9 March 1998Anna's official site has just been updated with some news. 3 March 1998The BBC now have a site dedicated to the upcoming Our Mutual Friend. There are only a couple of very small photos of Anna, but there's absolutely loads of information available about the book, the series, the cast and crew etc. — even a link to download the entire text of the novel. For Annaphiles, the most interesting bit is the reference to the " . . up-and-coming productions The Tribe, St Ives and The Stringer . . ", all of which are acknowledged as BBC Films. Keep paying that license fee! Click here to open the site in a new window. 2 March 1998Appearances by Anna in the press seem to be increasing of late, presumably as a result of the publicity for Our Mutual Friend. Some nice new pictures too, as I'm sure you will have noticed. With St. Ives due later in the year, Land Girls on the way to the cinema screens and even The Tribe looking a likely candidate for an outing in the autumn it looks like payback time for all the hard work she has been doing in the past 2 years. And with several offers apparently under consideration following her brief visit to the States late last year, it looks set to continue with news of Anna's next project. She is off to Italy later this month for eight weeks to star as Hermia in a new cinema version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. To be directed by Michael Hoffman the movie co-stars Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer as Oberon and Titania, with Rupert Everett playing Puck. [Anna was cast in a BBC TV version screened in 1995 which was given a 'present day' setting, and I think she played the same character; it was certainly one of the four lovers.] 1 March 1998Anna can be seen in a short interview and preview of Our Mutual Friend at 11:15 on Tuesday evening (3 March) on BBC 2. 15 February 1998Our Mutual Friend will be screened over four episodes starting at 9:00pm on 9 March on BBC 2. 2 February 1998More news this weekend on the fate of The Tribe. Evidently unable to find a cinema distributor for the UK it appears that the film has now been scheduled for transmission by the BBC this autumn. It was always going to end up on the Beeb at some point as their film unit (Screen Two) are credited as producers, but it now looks as though they are to forego any possibility of income from the cinema circuit. Also according to this report Anna regrets taking the part, and was hoping that the movie would remain gathering dust on the cutting room floor. This may help to explain why there has been so much avoidance of the subject in her replies to the buckets of mail she gets about its release. 28 January 1998It is reported that Anna is being courted as the replacement for Dervla Kirwan in the next series of Ballykissangel, which starts filming in April. From the way the story was written it appears that fans of the TV drama are going to have to believe in head transplants, as the character of Assumpta isn't being written out to accommodate Dervla's departure. The two newspapers in which I saw the story are from the same stable, so this may be no more than gossip at this stage. If anyone knows any more, let me know. 18 January 1998I finally saw it reported in one of the papers over the weekend, as part of an interview with Anna, that The Tribe is having difficulty finding a distribution deal. That much has been obvious for months, but at least it is formally confirmed now. The Tribe generates more queries to the Homage Page than any other subject, so no apologies for quoting the relevant snippet:- "The Tribe, in which Anna did her first nude scene, has yet to find a distributor in this country. 'I'm really inhibited about my body,' she says. 'But when you're filming you completely lose any inhibitions you have. You're like a piece of meat. It's very difficult and totally unsexual. 'I know what will happen though. The pictures will be taken off the screen and used completely out of context. I'll look at them and think: "Oh God, why did I do that?"' Well I don't know about 'out of context', but rest assured that the Homage Page will continue you bring you every picture of Anna as soon as they are available. 17 January 1998Anna's official site has just benefited from a terrific update. Current news, more answers to your emails to her and . . . a whole load of new pix! I gather she has also recorded some voice messages especially for her Web site, though these are not online as yet. So, what are you waiting for? Get over there now! 7 January 1998I saw the first report of Anna's own reaction to her recent haircut the other day, accompanying the news that she is off to Singapore this month to do the location filming for Rogue Trader (see the entry for 28 October for more details on this). She is quoted as saying: "It's my first haircut for seven years. It was short and blonde and at first I thought it was horrible; I couldn't see the real Anna". Unless some decent photos turn up shortly to disprove it I have to say I couldn't agree more. Aah, the lengths these thespians will go to for their art! But let's not be too downbeat about it. There's always been much more to Anna than just her stunning looks, and even a bad haircut is something you get used to with time!<g>. Plus, as she remarks, " . . at least it stopped people recognising me for a while". [Careful what you wish for, Anna!] I've also had an unconfirmed report today that the Beeb's Our Mutual Friend is due for screening in March (more on this under the entry for 11 April '97). |
"The Anna Friel Homage Page dwarfs any other online offering"
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