Emerald says Midwife was labour of love

Director nomination...Emerald Fennell

OSCAR-nominated director Emerald Fennell says her acting role in the BBC post-war drama Call the Midwife served as a handy crash course in film-making.

She also revealed how starring as Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown kept her grounded when her Hollywood career took off.

Emerald, 35, has seen her movie, Promising Young Woman – the first she has directed – get six BAFTA nominations and five Oscar nods.

She is the first British woman to be nominated for best director.

But the gritty American revenge drama could not be further from her role as Nurse Patsy Mount in the BBC’s Call The Midwife

And Emerald told this week’s Radio Times: “Call the Midwife is one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and we’re still all extremely close friends three years on. It’s a really good

Team...Emerald, right, with Charlotte Ritchie and Helen George, centre

example of teamwork – all the cast and crew look out for each other.

“I learnt so much about how sets work and about almost every facet of film-making.”

She also reflected on her role as Camilla in The Crown opposite Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles and Emma Corrin as Lady Diana.

She said: “I was in the edit in Los Angeles, then I would fly back and do The Crown, so I had that time to decompress.

“On The Crown, my only responsibility was to just be Camilla, in the room with Emma or Josh. It kept me sane, actually.”

Promising Young Woman is up for best picture, with further nods for Carey Mulligan’s performance, Emerald’s screenplay and editing.

The film is a provocative satire in which Ms Mulligan’s Cassie is out to avenge the rape of a college friend seven years earlier.