ICONIC ROLES STILL CLOSE TO JENNY’S HEART
HAVING one or two standout roles everyone instantly remembers you for is pretty decent for any actor.
Jenny Agutter has at least four – and she’s still delighted to be associated with them all.
She’s back tonight as Sister Julienne in BBC1’s smash hit, Call The Midwife.
But Walkabout – which courted controversy because of nude scenes of a teenage Jenny – The Railway Children and An American Werewolf In London remain as close to her heart as those of their many fans.
“They’ve become such classics because they turn up all the time and they have an effect on people,” Jenny, 64, tells iN10.
“Walkabout had a profound effect on me. It was five months travelling round the outback in Australia, so my memories are very particular.
“I think it’s an extraordinary film and it was an amazing experience.”
Regular TV screenings have ensured The Railway Children has become a favourite for generations of families since its release in 1970.
But Jenny says she was reluctant to take on the period tale of the three children adapting to a new life by a railway after their father’s wrongful arrest.
“I very nearly didn’t make the film,” she reveals.
“I’d already done it for TV. Also, I’d made Walkabout and, being 17, I didn’t want to play a child.
“But the director, Lionel Jeffries, was absolutely sure I was his Roberta and that was it, I was his Roberta.
“And, goodness me, I’m very happy that happened.
“Bernard Cribbens (who played the station porter) was delightful and very funny and stays in touch.
“To me, he remains exactly the same as he was then.”
An American Werewolf was another role she almost turned down as she wasn’t keen on horror films, but is equally happy she was won over to what became a cult classic.
Jenny had a few reservations too, about Call The Midwife. She loved the script for the first episode but wasn’t necessarily sure about committing to months on the one project.
As it turns out, six series on, she’s still very much central to it, with the BBC taking the unprecedented step of commissioning a further three seasons.
“Initially I just wasn’t sure who would be watching a series set, as it was then, in the 1950s about midwife nuns,” admits Jenny.
“But it touched people universally. We move on year-by-year each series and the writer, Heidi Thomas, does a brilliant job of reflecting what was happening as well as coming up with such strong stories.”
The Christmas Special took the midwives far from their Poplar base, to the sunshine of South Africa.
Now, though, they are back at Nonnatus House and there’s a shock on their return.
Harriet Walters’ Sister Ursula has been running things very differently, with unpopular changes introduced. And there’s discontent when it’s revealed that she will remain in charge, ahead of Sister Julienne.
While delighted at what the story brings and thrilled to have acclaimed actress Harriet on board, Jenny confesses she did have one quite big pang of regret.
“I was appalled when Heidi told me I was being ousted from my office,” laughs Jenny.
“As a character it was very much Julienne’s place of quiet.
“But as an actress, I really did go in there for the quiet and it was such a lovely place to be, surrounded by all the period props.
“It’s good for the character, though, not to get stuck in her ways.”
Having played the part for six years now, Jenny is totally at home slipping on her wimple.
And she says there’s at least one way in which she was more like Sister Julienne.
“She’s an extraordinarily tolerant person and I wish I had a bit more tolerance and patience,” she adds. “Whenever I’m playing her I keep thinking, ‘I must learn from this!’ but we want everything so quickly these days.”