News Archive 1999

23 December 1999

The first major site update for a month sees 59 new pix added to celebrate the launch of the new domain name.

6 November 1999

Thanks to Steve Johnston for the following quote from Anna revealing the reason she walked out on the Boys and Girls  project.  "I  left because the director wanted me to do things that I did not want to do... In the end I lost a lot of money".

29 October 1999

Thanks to David Campbell for alerting me to the fact that SKY1 appear to have altered this evening's schedules and are now showing repeat episodes of Tales from the Crypt.  The episode at 10:30, entitled About Face, is the one that starred Anna.  SJR's vidcaps from the original screening are the files fria213g to 221g on page 6 of the FRIA galleries.

27 October 1999

News reaches me today of Anna's next movie project.

Called Everlasting Piece,  the film is a comedy set in Northern Ireland about the adventures of two hairpiece salesmen;  Anna plays a hairdresser.  

Anna has also been taking singing lessons in preparation for the expected announcement that she will play the lead role in a remake of My Fair Lady.  

News also of another spin on the reason she walked out of Boys & Girls.  Take your pick from "artistic differences", "fired because she didn't know what she was doing", and now "an executive on the picture behaved in an unacceptable manner towards her and others".  I've not yet seen a direct quote from Anna herself, so maybe there's one more lap yet to run on this one.

Finally, in addition to the TV appearances mentioned below, those of you with cable TV can also see Anna in the repeats of GBH  now showing on the Carlton Select channel on Tuesdays and Saturdays.  Anna can only have been 14 when this was made and, while I recall Michael Palin's character having daughters (3 of them?), I can't say I remember any of them having a significant part in any of the episodes.  You may need to watch 2 or 3 episodes just to get a glimpse of her, but it's enjoyable anyway.

25 October 1999

Just a reminder that the repeat of the Clive Anderson show (see the news item below from 22 October) is on tonight at 11:50 on BBC1.

This week you can also catch Anna on Film 99 tomorrow evening (11:25, BBC1) and on Channel 5's The Movie Chart Show (7:00 on Wednesday) when she will be talking to presenter Gail Porter about A Midsummer Night's Dream.  There's no mention of her or Mad Cows  in the preview for Barry Norman's film night (Thursday, SKY Premier), but with the film on general release from Friday it may be worth a look.

22 October 1999

Anna is evidently using some of the extra time she has on her hands following her withdrawal from Boys and Girls  to pay a visit back home.  She was a guest on last night's Clive Anderson talk show on BBC1.

Apologies that I couldn't forewarn you of her appearance — I only found out myself when the show was half over.  (Thanks once again to the official site for keeping us in touch with these things.  Not.)

Despite having been in New York for most of the past 9 months — a period when she says she's "learned more [about acting] than in my entire career" — Anna certainly hasn't lost her Lancashire brogue, with every o sounding like a u (munth; luv), and is clearly irritated by the fact that her soap roots and her past love life still get mentioned — "How can they still be interested in that after three years?"

She thoroughly enjoyed the Broadway experience and said she plans to do live theatre work every two years.  She then launched a curious attack on getting the Great back into Great Britain, bemoaning the fact that she had to go thousands of miles from home to prove herself and be accepted as a "real actress".  Having been back in England for four days she has noticed an "incredibly different reaction" from the press here.

Anna turned the conversation towards Mad Cows, not wanting to miss the opportunity to promote the movie which is out at the end of this month, and we had the inevitable 'clip'.  There was no mention of her absence from Boys and Girls, but Anna did share her thoughts on her profession in general when talking about how she handled the development of Beth as a lesbian in her Brookside  days.  "It's a business — that's why it's called showbusiness and not showfun.  It's a game — you just have to decide how much you want to participate."

As an overall impression I'd say Anna looked as gorgeous and seemed as feisty as ever.  I got the distinct impression that she was up for a fight had one arrived, Clive having a deserved reputation from previous series of dishing out a lot of stick to his guests.  She clearly wasn't going to stand for anything, though in the event she didn't need to as he has a much less confrontational style these days.  The net effect however was that she came over as a bit too bullish and defensive at times, something I think she recognised at the end of her 10-minute stint with the line "I've been reading too many self-help books I think; a road less travelled!".

If you missed it, it is repeated at 23:50 on Monday 25th on BBC1.  Any vidcaps from this gratefully received.

17 October 1999

Dolphine, occasional Homage Page contributor and publisher of the ever-improving Anna Friel Reference Site, is to be thanked for passing on the news that there are two more movies starring Anna that are going to be being released in the increasingly-popular DVD format.

Still doing the rounds at some multiplexes, though not for much longer, is A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I can see how this may fare well as a DVD release — possibly even better than the distributors might expect — thanks to the almost magical nature of some of the effects in the fairy sequences.  Also due out is Rogue Trader, the Nick Leeson story starring Anna and Ewan.

Both titles will be released before the end of the year for US (region 1) customers, with the UK following no doubt some time later.

16 October 1999

Thanks to Ruby75 for the news that Anna is no longer contracted to work on the recently-announced movie Boys and Girls, filming for which started this week.  He sent me this, lifted directly from the New York Post web site.

Aapologies for the sensationalist style, but it's their  wording not mine.  Take a pinch of salt and read on . . .

NEW YORK POST, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1999

'Closer' star Friel spites Miramax

A bad case of attitude may end up costing would-be starlet Anna Friel her movie career before it ever really gets rolling.

The 23-year-old actress - who received rave reviews for her performance in "Closer" on Broadway - was dropped from "Boys and Girls" just days before the $30 million romantic comedy was scheduled to start shooting in California, and replaced with fellow Brit Claire ("Meet Joe Black") Forlani.

A spokesperson for Miramax says Friel's leaving the production was a mutual decision arrived at due to "aristic differences."  But London's Daily Express reports that the discriminating thespian bowed out after deeming the movie, co-starring Freddie Prinze Jr., beneath her standards.

"She suddenly decided the film was 'corny' and that it would be a poor career move," the Express quotes a Friel source as saying.  "She wants to do Hollywood movies," says the spy, "but will not appear in something she doesn't like for a big paycheck."

Some industry watchers feel that Friel's passing judgement on such a major production - and insulting the all-powerful Miramax in the process - will have the worst consequences for the newcomer than if she had simply sucked it up and appeared in the movie, no matter how saccharine sweet it turned out to be.

"She ain't a star yet," notes one insider, "so there's the danger of people saying, 'To hell with her, why should we bother?'".  Besides, a source this close to the production tells PAGE SIX, Friel "didn't quit the production, she was fired."

It seems that on the "Boys and Girls" set, "trouble" was Friel's middle name.  "It's one thing to be demanding and difficult when you're good," says our well-placed informant.  "It's another thing when you're not that good and you're just starting out."

Friel - whose only notable screen credit is the yet-to-be-released "Rogue Trader" in which she stars opposite Ewan McGregor - "just wasn't good.  She didn't know what she was doing."

And if Friel felt finicky about the "Boys and Girls" script, our insider asks, "then why did she take the role in the first place?  She read the script, she knew what the movie was about.  It's not as if it changed from what she signed on for.  She knew what she was getting into."

Friel's rep did not comment.

15 October 1999

Anna is reported to be growing disenchanted with her London home (though she's hardly spent much time there since first moving in!), and is looking for somewhere quieter and more peaceful.  She apparently misses the freedom of the frequent visits she made to Central Park.  It seems however that any move will have to be put on hold until she strengthens the old bank balance, as she says the remuneration from Closer failed to cover her costs of living in NY.

29 September 1999

In addition to that little lot below Anna is now on the cover of Heat.  Thanks again to Chumba for the scan, bringing this month's new pix total to 35.

I've not seen it myself yet (shock horror), but I did come across the lesbian story referred to on the cover a couple of months ago.  As it could too easily have been nothing but scurrilous rumour-mongering I was waiting for some further confirmation of a grain of truth to the story before putting it on the site.  It may all still be nonsense of course, but the fact that Anna herself has now publicly addressed the issue makes me feel comfortable enough to bring you the original snippets, quoted as printed in the New York Post of 11 April this year (page 6, if you're counting) . . .

WHICH hot young Broadway actress, imported from Britain, is having an affair with a compatriot supermodel? This is not the first same-sex encounter for either of them, but there doesn't look to be much future in the sapphic union.

Kate Moss had better stick to a handshake next time she runs into one of her girlfriends. Fashionistas are buzzing about the lingering kisses she has been exchanging when she meets certain galpals, who include the daughter of a rock star, a British socialite and an actress in a current blockbuster. A photographer hired to chronicle a party Moss attended says that shots of Kate and a friend were so hot his film was confiscated. But Paul Rowland, who runs Kate's modeling agency, Women, scoffs at speculation that Moss has joined the ranks of ambi-sexual models like Rachel Williams and Patricia Velasquez. "Kate is just very affectionate," says Rowland. 

26 September 1999

Anna is featured in the October issue of Vogue magazine (thanks to Chumba for the scans!), and is in the current issue of OK magazine (thanks to SJR for the scans!).  There is also a 2-page interview in today's Sunday Mirror, a major feature in the October edition of Tatler, and a prominent pic or two in Marie Claire.  Looks like there's been a bit of a push on the publicity front now she's back from Bali!

Anna leaves for the States again in a few days to begin filming Boys and Girls with Freddie Prinze Jr..  See the entry from 20 August below for more on this.

18 September 1999

Some outlets now have the Land Girls DVD available.

10 September 1999

Not for the first time (see AFSC0058 to 0065), Tatler magazine has unleashed some tremendous pictures of Anna in their October 1999 issue.

As you'll see from the scans Anna features in a major spread inside the magazine and on the cover, confirming her status as a major star and a face that's guaranteed to shift the copies from the shelves.  Encourage them to feature her again — buy it — and maybe we won't need to wait another 2½ years for the next time!

8 September 1999

We can drop the 'allegedly' from the news report of a couple of days ago!

Resident sleuth (and a regular contributor to the Homage Page) John Patton was sufficiently intrigued to go a-searching, and unearthed the following report from the nydailynews.com site of 24 August.  Thanks John!

Not only does it confirm Anna's knicker-throwing farewell gesture to the Broadway fans, but there's a very interesting note about Madonna's desire to take part in the play on condition that Anna stayed in the cast!  Whatever might that yet lead to we wonder!  The report is quoted verbatim below, so read on . . .

'Closer' But No Cigar for Madonna

Madonna was closer than ever to returning to Broadway.  Theater insiders were abuzz Sunday night at the closing of "Closer" about the Material Girl's desire to join the cast in the role originated by Natasha Richardson.  But word has it she'd only do it if Brit babe Anna Friel stayed on.  Unfortunately, Friel couldn't continue because of a movie commitment. 

"She loved the play, but there were a lot of scheduling problems," Madonna's rep, Liz Rosenberg, told us.  However, Miss M may hit the stage after all.  "There's other stuff that may be happening," Rosenberg says.  Madonna's one and only Great White Way run was in David Mamet's "Speed the Plow" in 1988. 

Meanwhile, Madonna probably would have gotten a kick out of Friel's final curtain-call bow at Sunday's matinee — she threw out a G-string and garter belt to the audience.  Maybe she thought she was auditioning for a Madonna video. 

6 September 1999

Following the mega-success of Closer, Anna is taking a well-earned rest on holiday in Bali (as you do!).  She returns to the US at the end of this month to begin filming Boys and Girls (see the entry below from 20 August for more on this).

But can it be true that on the final curtain call of the final night of the play Anna removed her panties and tossed them into the audience?  I've only heard one such report, so you'd better take an 'allegedly' with that for the moment!  And I'm resisting the temptation to comment on how fishy this tale smells . . .

1 September 1999

The Anna Friel Homage Page is three years young today.  Having started in just ½Mb of space in 1996 it has grown at the rate of 30Mb of new material per year, and records an average of over 1,000 hits per week.

20 August 1999

This arrived in my mailbox this evening.  Many thanks to 'Ruby75' for passing on the following report of a new Anna project to look forward to . . .

"A few days ago, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Anna Friel has been cast opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. in Miramax's BOYS AND GIRLS.  Anna will play Jennifer to Freddie's Ryan.  The movie is about 2 best friends (Ryan and Jennifer) whose relationship is tested when they have sex.  The director is Robert Iscove (SHE'S ALL THAT).  Filming starts in the fall."

There's not much there yet, but the IMDB does cover the movie.  Click here to see the entry.

14 August 1999

The New York Times reports that Closer will come to the end of its run on 22 August, not 9 September as was originally scheduled.

8 August 1999

The DVD release date of Land Girls for the UK market is 30 August.

10 July 1999

It's been a while coming, but the News section of Anna's official site has just been updated.  Anna confirms that she has 3 or 4 projects under consideration for when the Closer run ends on 9 September. 

23 June 1999

I doubt you need telling but, just in case you missed it, Anna's latest film release will be hitting your local flea pit this week.  Unless you are US-based that is, in which case you can catch it on the premium cable channel Cinemax on Friday 25th June at 8pm (Pacific Standard).  Sorry, I've no details for the rest of the world!

The movie premiered at the Leicester Square Odeon last Monday, and you may have caught a few brief interviews with Anna and Ewan on various news broadcasts.  Scans from the papers and magazines are, of course, on the site.  The Web site for the movie is http://www.roguetrader.co.uk/rt/index.htm.  

I've heard nothing more from Anna's dad yet (see the item below), nor has the official site burst back into anything resembling life.

8 June 1999

I got home tonight to find a message from Des Friel, Anna's dad, on my answering machine.

I rang him back, as you do, and he tells me that he has just got back from New York with a thank you for my 'thoughtful gesture', which was very nice of him.  We had quite a lengthy chat, so here's the latest news . . . 

• Des is arranging for the first major update to the official page since October last year, and hopes to have it online within a few days.  (Des, you'll have to get it sorted now I've announced it!)  This ought to be well within his abilities, as he runs netshopuk where Anna's official page is based!  Here's a link, as if you needed it.

• Anna flies back to the UK on 21 June for the premiere of Rogue Trader, and will be Concording-it back over there for the following evening's performance of Closer.  (As this is beyond the run date that I'd seen reported I was able to clarify that Anna is in the play until the run ends in September, which had always been the intended finishing date apparently.)

• I asked for any news about The Stringer, which has been completed now for some time, but it's only as you'd expect — the lengthy editing and post-production stage is completed, and options for distribution are being explored.

There are a few other snippets that aren't progressed sufficiently to qualify as 'news' yet, so I'm staying shtumm.  I can tell you though that Des has promised to add to my collection of Anna photos, and there's possibly going to be some closer links and co-operation between the Official home page and the Homage Page to look forward to.

31 May 1999

The BBC will be showing All For Love next Sunday (6th June) at 9:00pm (BBC1); Rogue Trader is on general release from 25 June; and Mad Cows gets to the UK cinema circuit on 8 October.

Anna is down 34 places to number 72 in the 1999 FHM list of the world's 100 sexiest women.

30 May 1999

I've been and gone and come back again.  My feet are killing me, I'm jet-lagged to the eyeballs, but I've finally fulfilled a long-held ambition to take a bite out of the Big Apple.  Well, more a nibble out of Manhatten to be strictly accurate, as I never got off the island in the few days I was there!

While I'm not obsessed enough to have gone there because Anna was on Broadway, I'll acknowledge that it was a factor in determining to go this month rather than the September/October time I'd originally planned.  No surprise then that I took the opportunity to see Closer for myself.  Don't expect a review — if that's what you want you'll find the professionals' opinions here — but I can verify that Anna is undoubtedly the Belle of this particular Ball.  The character she plays helps enormously of course, and most of the laughs in the play come from Alice's dialogue, but the audiences love her and she gets by far the loudest acclaim when the performers take their individual plaudits at the end of the night.  Several whoops and hollers arise from the male contingent at this point too, and she's either genuinely embarrassed or well-practiced at feigning it.  A bit of both maybe, as she must be used to it by now.

On this evidence I'm sure she'll have attracted the attention of even more movie and stage producers, so her next project could (and perhaps should) be the really big one that catapults her way beyond her professional achievements so far.

Now I couldn't be staying 5 minutes' walk away and not push my luck, so I did my best to grab an exclusive interview and a scoop for the site.  Well, sort of.   I didn't want her to think she'd acquired a stalker, so there was no waiting for her arrival with camera and notebook poised, but I did leave a note for her at the Stage Door to see if she might grant an audience to the Homage Page.  I even tried to bribe a meeting out of her by leaving a box of PGTips (since she's been abroad she's missing tea and Marmite, apparently) but to no avail.

I can't say I'm surprised, but I was disappointed not to get so much as an acknowledgement (or even a "sod off you weirdo"!).  I think I'll settle for deluding myself that the bloke on the door nicked the tea bags, and she never even got to know I was there!  Scannable stuff from the trip, such as it is, to follow.

23 May 1999

In what is probably the final site update for a week or so, news today that the final cut of Mad Cows has been doing the rounds of potential distributors at the current Cannes Film Festival.  It's prospects have apparently been augmented by the cutting-out of the minor part played by 'It' girl and friend of the Royals Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, who is currently in a US clinic following alleged cocaine and alcohol abuse.

14 May 1999

Don't get too excited by the fact that Anna's official site was updated on 10 May.  The only change is the inclusion of the following on the startup page . . .

Congratulations to all involved in "Our Mutual Friend" for winning 4 of the British TV Awards on May 9th

11 May 1999

Reviews of A Midsummer Night's Dream (see the entry below from 22 April) are starting to appear, and most seem very positive about the adaptation.  Anna is probably the least well-known of the principal actors (the cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline), and many reviews are focusing on Calista Flockhart's McBeal-like performance as Helena.  Where it does get a mention though, Anna's interpretation of Hermia is also well-received.

9 May 1999

Mad Cows premieres at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, so keep an eye out for any coverage.  I'm not sure whether Anna will be attending herself this time or not.  I imagine her commitments on Broadway might preclude this, but you never know.

She is apparently looking at another film project when the Closer run comes to an end next month, and has more theatre planned for next year.  Hopefully somewhere a tad more accessible to we Brits than Broadway!

According to Baz's column in Friday's Daily Mail she is also "pursuing a role that could ensure no-one will ever forget her", but he fails to elaborate on this tempting morsel of news, promising only that he will be the first to tell us "if it comes off".   Guess you'll see it here second then!

In the spirit of tempting morsels I hope to have something worth reporting here myself in a few weeks' time . . . stay tuned.

4 May 1999

The Tony awards nominations, Broadway's equivalent of the movie industry's Oscar ceremony, were announced yesterday.  Closer is up for the award as Best New Play.

22 April 1999

Here's a link to the official Web site of Anna's upcoming movie A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is released in the US on 7 May.  All very Hollywood, as you'd expect, but plenty of info about the film, the play, the cast and crew and the inevitable trailer to download (5Mb, if you're tempted).  Thanks to John (again!) for spotting this.

14 April 1999

Thanks again to John for more Closer-related info., including a link to this page — as comprehensive a round-up as you could wish for.  There's a review of the play at this URL and loads more info. available if you do a search for Closer and/or Music Box.

10 April 1999

I nearly dropped off my perch when I saw that Anna's site had been updated on 8th April.  About time too, thought I.

Unfortunately, unless I'm missing something, absolutely nothing has changed since about October last year except that the home page now makes reference to a charity issue that Anna is presumably supporting.  Seems like the official site doesn't think her current activities are worthy of a mention!  Beats me.

Also today I came across this link, which gives a US release date of 3 December for Anna's recently-completed movie Sunset Strip .

6 April 1999

Rogue Trader has apparently suffered the same fate as befell The Tribe before it in that it has failed to secure a US cinema distribution deal.  Thanks to Costa for finding and submitting this:-

"Ewan McGregor's new film Rogue Trader - about the city whizz kid Nick Leeson who brought down Barings Bank - is to be released on TV after failing to find a major film distributor.

Leeson has just found out that he will be released from a Singapore jail in three months after serving two thirds of his six-and-a-half year sentence.  But despite starring McGregor and Anna Friel, the movie will now premiere on US cable channel Home Box Office, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The film was written, directed and co-produced by James Dearden — who was the screenwriter of Fatal Attraction.  But in a huge blow to Dearden and production partner Sir David Frost no-one wants to distribute it — despite it being ready for release for more than a year."

Granada Films are principal backers, so I guess we'll see it on the ITV network at some point.

Also today I've added several more critics' reviews of Closer, and put them on a new page.  Thanks again go to John Patton for sending them through.  If you don't want to wade through the full text of the reviews here are just a few of the many positive comments about Anna's performance . . .

• Anna Friel bursts over the Broadway sky like a bombshell.  A magnetic performance (New York Post)

• The evening belongs to Ms. Friel (Wall Street Journal)

• Anna Friel is the most appealing new face on Broadway this season (Time magazine)

• Ms. Friel is a particular delight, a natural — a wonderful star actress in the making (New York Observer)

• The delicate, exquisitely lovely Friel is the discovery here.  It’s a star-making performance. (Variety)

• Friel is getting a huge push from the film industry; this keen, precise stage performance shows why (USA Today)

• A pint-size powerhouse . . a ravishing newcomer, whose authenticity makes it impossible to take your eyes off her (New Yorker)

• No one could capture the intermingled aggressiveness and vulnerability of youth with more empathy than Anna Friel. (New York magazine)

27 March 1999

I've also read that the BBC costume drama All For Love should be transmitted in the upcoming new season.  The project was initially known as St. Ives (click here for more on this).

22 March 1999

There's a report in one of today's tabloids that Anna is "suffering crippling back pain" at the moment.

It quotes Anna as blaming the 10lb pair of false breasts she wore for her rôle in Mad Cows, and reports that she "has had to see specialists" as a result.  "The weight of them and carrying the baby did my back in . . . they were so heavy I am now having to see doctors because my back has been put out so much."

I was following some of the links I put on the Anna Info page yesterday to make sure they are still valid and came across the release date for A Midsummer Night's Dream.  The movie is released in May (in the US, presumably), so we should get it by the autumn.

10 February 1999

As reported here on 1 January Anna makes her debut on Broadway next month in Closer.  Thanks to John Patton for the news that the tickets went on sale at the beginning of this week, with performances starting on 28 March.

The new (March) issue of Minx magazine contains an interview with Anna, along several new pictures that have been added to the archives here.  The text however contains nothing that we didn't already know.

The News section on Anna's site has been updated, but I don't see anything else that's different from the October update except that the e-mail q & a appears to have been replaced by a guestbook.

Apologies for not being around at the time to tell you that The Tribe was repeated last Sunday evening on BBC 2.  That explains the four-fold increase in hits I got the following day!

The latest batch of scans are taken from the February 1999 edition of Elle magazine, whose reporter and photographers were with Anna for a time during the filming of Sunset Strip and accompanied Anna to her launch as a "Hollywood sex goddess" at the "most gloriously star-studded party of the year".  Phew!

There's nothing really newsworthy to report as such, but I can't resist bringing you Anna's technique for putting on a sexy pose for a photographer.  She says the important bit is to "think about the biggest penis you ever saw".

Anna is to make her début on Broadway!  She is to star in the American premiere of Closer when the play crosses the pond to open at the Music Box Theatre at 239 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036.

It also appears that she has been in the US for some weeks, as filming of a movie (Sunset Strip) in LA is nearing completion.  Anna apparently plays a "hip young fashion designer" called Tammy.  She then goes straight into rehearsals for the play, which opens in March.  Co-stars are Natasha Richardson, Rupert Graves and Ciaran Hinds, and Anna plays the part of a lap dancer/stripper.  I understand that there is no nudity in the play however, so calm down!

I'll try to find out more on both projects, which are news to me today, but once again I'm wondering why the official site fails to keep her fans informed of such events.  Her absence making a movie in America might partly explain why there have been no replies from her to recent e-mails, but you'd think both the Broadway and the movie news would at least warrant a mention in passing!

Anna was apparently considered for the play during it's original run in London, but was rejected as the producers felt she was too young to carry off the rôle convincingly.

"The Anna Friel Homage Page dwarfs any other online offering"
Zoo magazine 02 June 2005

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