Recipe for success
SARAH LANCASHIRE plays legendary TV chef julia Child in a new US drama
Julia
Tuesday, 9pm, 10.05pm, 11.10pm &12.15am, Sky Atlantic
(box set, Sky Box SETS/NOW)
SHE’S ONE OF British TV’S biggest stars thanks to roles in Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, and now Sarah Lancashire makes her first appearance in a US drama, playing trailblazing TV chef Julia Child.
Sky Atlantic’s eight-parter Julia
– with four episodes showing this week – explores how the Californiaborn cook began broadcasting to America in the 1960s and brought French cuisine to the US and launched a successful TV career.
‘I feel privileged to be playing Julia, because she was a remarkable woman with the most beautiful personality,’ says Lancashire. ‘She encapsulates everything I admire. I like women who are unafraid, and she was a true pioneer who couldn’t be put into a box.’
‘I like women who are unafraid, and she was a true pioneer’ SARAH LANCASHIRE
DREAM ROLE
The former Corrie star had decided to take a year off from acting, until she was sent the script for the series, and set her heart on the role – despite strong competition from other actors.
‘The big hurdle was the auditions, because I’ve never auditioned well,’ she reveals. ‘Even when I was at drama school, they were always concerned that I would never get over my terrible nerves, and indeed I never have. But five auditions down the line, they offered me the role and Julia is a character unlike any I would be offered in the UK – she’s unique.’
The story begins in 1961 as Julia and her loving diplomat husband, Paul, played by Frasier’s David Hyde Pierce (see panel, above right), enjoy a celebratory dinner after hearing that her first book will be published.
‘Julia and Paul had a beautiful and enduring relationship. It was truly a marriage made in heaven,’ says Lancashire. ‘He was selfless enough to stand back in the wings and let her take centre stage, but he also worked hard to protect her.’
As Julia promotes her book on TV, her star potential is spotted when she upstages the host by preparing an omelette live on air. Luckily, Lancashire had enough culinary skills of her own not to struggle with the cookery scenes.
‘I was very fortunate because my mother dragged me into the kitchen at a very early age and forced me to cook. And so from a young age, my
siblings and I were chopping onions, peeling potatoes and becoming self-sufficient. I’ve always been able to cook and I’ve been feeding quite a large family for several decades now.’
NEW VOICE
Julia’s story has already been the subject of 2009 film Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep, but the TV series takes a deeper dive, starring James Cromwell as Julia’s stern father, and Isabella Rossellini as her collaborator Simone Beck.
Rather than trying to mimic Julia’s distinctive accent, Lancashire decided not to use a voice coach, and instead adopted her own version that she felt more comfortable with.
‘Julia is a very well-known commodity in the US, so of course people have preconceived ideas of what they want their Julia to be like,’ says Lancashire.
‘But it was slightly liberating for me not to have grown up with her legacy in the UK, so I was working without a lot of this background noise. I also recognised a slight Britishness to her. She has a bit of a jolly-hockey-sticks quality that seems very British to me. She is one of those wonderfully capable women who just gets on with life with great gusto and zest.’