OUR FARE LADY
British acting icon Sarah Lancashire crosses the pond to play renowned TV chef Julia Child in her first-ever US role
We’re used to seeing Sarah Lancashire in powerhouse acting roles, such as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley. Until now, though, the Oldhamborn star has shied away from jobs in the US. But she’s finally gone Stateside to play Julia Child – one of America’s most celebrated TV chefs.
Credited with bringing French cuisine to the US masses with her book Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, Julia went on to become a superstar on her show, The French Chef.
Sarah’s new HBO series chronicles Julia’s rise to fame as her husband and family adapt to her stardom at a time when politics, the women’s movement and the nature of US life were changing.
For Sarah, 57, the project posed a brand new challenge and one she admits she wasn’t ready for – saying she was “slightly saved” when the pandemic halted filming in 2020. But when production did finally get under way in 2021, travel restrictions meant she had to go to the US on her own.
“It’s not an experience I care to repeat, in terms of being isolated from my family,” she has said of the upheaval.
Still, Sarah threw herself into the role, perfecting her American accent and studying footage of Julia – who died in 2004, aged 91 – to capture her whimsical personality and body language.
“She’s in Technicolor, like a bird of paradise,” Sarah said of Julia. “She’s unlike anybody
I’ve ever encountered before. She’s a frontierswoman.”
Known for her bright, cheerful demeanour, Julia is a different character to many of the gritty roles we’ve seen Sarah take on over the years. While she admits filming dramas can leave her “depleted” by the end of the day, playing the culinary icon felt uplifting.
“Because she is so elevating and she has such warmth and sunshine in her soul, you have to find that within yourself in order to play her,” Sarah said. “She makes you feel good about yourself and the world.”
While she’s about to be introduced to US audiences playing one of their national treasures, Sarah is determined not to let any subsequent fame change the privacy she’s spent so many years cultivating.
“I’ve worked very hard to avoid the spotlight,” she explained. “I’m four decades into this industry, I’m not going to change.”