5 STORIES ABOUT SALLY

Adina Bresge offers up some thoughts on actress Sally Hawkins, a favourite of many directors.

1 Honoured already Sally Hawkins was nominated for best actress at the recent Oscars for her starring turn as a mute janitor who falls for a captive merman in the Academy Award-winning film The Shape of Water. She was previously nominated for her supporting role in the Woody Allen-directed 2013 film Blue Jasmine. At the 2009 Golden Globe Awards, Hawkins beat out Meryl Streep to take home the trophy for best actress in a musical or comedy for her performance as a chirpy schoolteacher in the British indie film Happy- Go-Lucky.

2 Tailoring to her talents Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro has said he wrote the lead role in The Shape of Water with Hawkins in mind. At a Vulture Fest panel last fall, del Toro revealed that he drunkenly embraced Hawkins when he first met her at a Golden Globes party in 2013 to express his admiration. He said he had been a fan of the petite actress since her breakout performance in Happy- Go-Lucky, whose writer-director Mike Leigh also said he created Hawkins’ character specifically for her sprightly charms.

3 Characters with disabilities Hawkins, who has dyslexia, recently played two leading characters with disabilities. In Maudie, Hawkins portrayed Maudie Lewis’s perseverance through juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Her character in The Shape of Water communicates through sign language, which Hawkins studied for the film.

4 Marriage pact with James Corden Hawkins and late-night host James Corden have both joked that they once made a pact to get hitched if both of them were still single at 35. While Hawkins, 41, tries to keep her private life out of the headlines, Corden got married in 2012 at age 34.

5 Portrayed parents’ profession Both of Hawkins’ parents are children’s book writers and illustrators. While she didn’t take up the family profession, Hawkins played children’s book author Mary Brown in the 2014 live-action animated film Paddington, and returned to the role in last year’s Paddington 2.