Getting Dressed: Geraldine James
Brigid Keenan
Geraldine James has just starred in the Netflix series Anne with an E.
Made in Canada, it’s the well-loved story of Anne of Green Gables – an orphan ‘accidentally’ adopted by a hard-working farmer and his sister – made real. During lockdown, every episode was as good for morale as a session with a therapist.
James plays the adoptive mother, Marilla, so compellingly that when the third and final series ended (sadly there will never be another), you almost needed therapy to deal with the sense of loss.
James felt the loss as much as the viewers – more than she has felt for any of the other wonderful characters she has played, including Sarah Layton in Jewel in the Crown.
James spent a year and a half separated from her family, filming Anne in Canada – though she was allowed home for a week when her daughter had her first baby. When it was all over, she recovered herself by renting a house on Lake Huron, so that they could have a real-life holiday together.
Other series have been equally demanding. The Jewel in the Crown involved 18 months away from home – six in India and the rest in pretend India in Manchester (Granada TV’S base), where the actors had to suck ice cubes before filming so their breath wouldn’t give away the fact that it was freezing cold.
She spent another year in Manchester filming, often at night, the popular series Band of Gold about a group of prostitutes struggling against the odds. The part of Marilla in Anne with an E was challenging. At first, James was not particularly interested. ‘She is so unforgivingly nasty to Anne at the beginning,’ she says, ‘and I am always being asked to play evil mothers. Why is it that it’s always the fathers who are nice?’ The next challenge was her appearance. James is 70 but there were no concessions to age. Make-up was not allowed on anyone in the series. One of the actors tried to sneak a few eyelash extensions past the director but failed. James’s pale auburn hair had to be bleached, dyed black (at one stage, it turned an alarming purple) and scraped into a bun. I suggest it was brave of her to take the part. James cries, ‘Brave? I must have been raving mad.’ But it’s clear Marilla is very dear to her heart. James’s husband is actor/director Joseph Blatchley (nephew of Alec Guinness). There was no acting tradition in her own family – her father was a doctor. But as a child she loved showing off her handstands and somersaults. At boarding school, she discovered that she could make people laugh. ‘When I auditioned for the Drama Centre, they asked why I thought I could act and, without thinking, I said, “Because I have always been such a good liar!” And, of course, that is what acting is – make-believe – being someone else. I’ve never been interested in being me – when I am playing a part I try to BE, truthfully, that other person.’
James confesses she is hopeless at clothes. ‘I buy endless useless things that I never wear. I buy outfits at the end of a film and never look at them again – my attic was filled with unworn stuff. I am rather proud of the fact that I have just given it all away.’
She does like Cos. When in New York, she usually buys something by Eileen Fisher. Some time ago, she had her colours ‘done’ by Red Leopard which has helped: ‘I am “Autumn” and must not wear black, which is a challenge as I sing in a choir.’
She is good at skincare, on the other hand, using Ebo’s seasonal oils, and, lately, an American brand, QMS.
She met the hair-stylist Jerry Ramdass when she was filming Made in Dagenham. He expertly colours and cuts her hair at home. In younger days she was a keen runner; now, frailer, she walks and swims. Filming her new series in the Isle of Wight this summer was perfect.
She keeps trim by not eating from 6.30 in the evening till 11am next day. ‘It’s called intermittent fasting and suits me very well.’