Helen Baxendale on The Only Boy For Me - Memorable TV Interviews

1TV1 Network | The Only Boy For Me is on Wednesday 6 September 2006 @ 9.00pm

Helen Baxendale admits THE ONLY BOY FOR ME is the kind of story she likes to watch on TV.

“It’s a nice mix. A strong dramatic storyline with comedic moments. A conflict between child and partner. This is the sort of thing I like to watch and they don’t come along very often!” she says.

“Annie, the character I play, is the single mother of a seven year old child. She’s chosen to have a child on her own and is committed to bringing him up herself. She’s working to support him and she’s made a really good life for them.

“She’s self sufficient and hasn’t been looking for anything more in her life. Then she lays eyes on Mack and it just happens and although it’s wonderful she knows it has to be right for her child as well. It’s a complicated adult story about the choices you make in life.”

Mum of three since the birth of her new son, Vinny, Helen likes to identify with the women she plays and says there are some qualities she shares with Annie.

“I’m sure I would have done the same as Annie if the circumstances had been different. It is a brave decision to have children on your own. I don’t think I could be as self sufficient as Annie but there are still lots of similarities between us.

“Annie is unsure of herself, quirky, strong and resilient. She has good friends and has a great set up at home. Her mum and dad are quite eccentric so she sorts them out as well. They are very close.”

And Helen loves playing a character who wears great clothes.

“I hate shopping. Partly, because I don’t often have time, with the kids and work, so it’s always such a big rush. But I’m not really a shopper. I love the style of clothes I wear as Annie, they’re quite boho so I’m pleased to be taking those home with me!”

“People say never work with children or animals and I did once have a terrible experience with a tiger on a Canadian film I was in. It started with myself and another sitting in a car with a fully grown tiger in the back. They put a Perspex screen between us, after the other actor refused to get in the car, and the tiger was growling right down our necks. I was petrified. At one stage the handler screamed at us to turn off the engine as the tiger was mauling his hand.

“I have to say working with Karl, who plays my son Charlie, was quite different! This was the first big thing Karl has done and he is brilliant. He is a lovely boy with an intelligent approach to work. He was completely unfazed by the whole thing and always wanting to know what the cameramen and director were up to.”

Helen has recently finished filming Dead Clever, a black comedy for ITV, in which she stars alongside Suranne Jones and Dean Lennox Kelly. But she is also trying her hand at writing.

“My sister Katie is a writer, and a very good one, but I’m just dipping my toe in. It’s a film adaptation of a book called Cheese, a comedy which also has a good message about what’s important in life.

“It’s funny and heart warming and I’m really enjoying the whole process. I like the discipline of sitting there at the desk even when it’s not working. Having something to concentrate on, like a puzzle.”