Anna Friel is so intent on waving hello when she parks her new Saab convertible that she inadvertently backs it into a post. When she realises what’s happened she lurches the car forward in a panic and leaps out to inspect the damage. She breathes a sigh of relief — there’s no sign of a scratch, just a bit of wood dust on the bumper.

“Don’t put that in the interview, I’ll die of embarrassment,” she says, squealing with laughter. “I’m a very good driver usually. I’ve never even had so much as a knock before.”

Blame it on a lack of sleep. Her baby daughter Gracie has been disturbing her twice nightly for the past nine weeks. But when she picks her up and strolls over to her favourite spot by the river in Windsor, where she lives, she looks remarkably composed for someone who hasn’t had a full night’s rest for weeks.

Baby Gracie is the primary reason for buying the Saab 9-3 Aero. Having always hankered after a convertible, Friel read in Which? that Saab produced the safest model in the range she was looking at and that sealed her decision.

Born and raised in Rochdale, Friel shot to fame at age 16 playing Beth Jordache in Brookside and bought her first car, a Peugeot 106, a year later. She moved from soap star to sex symbol after making British television history by planting the first on-screen lesbian kiss.

When she left the series 10 years ago she remained in the public eye for all the wrong reasons: her party-girl friendship with Kate Moss and romantic entanglements first with Robbie Williams and then Darren Day.

But in 2000 she moved out of London seeking a quieter life in Windsor and soon afterwards met the recently divorced David Thewlis, an actor whose credits include Naked, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Kingdom of Heaven.

“We’re definitely going to stop taking film projects at the same time as each other,” she says. “At least in Gracie’s early years we’re going to aim to accompany each other on set and make sure one of us is always available to her.”

Despite winning huge success on Broadway in 1999 playing in the stage version of Patrick Marber’s Closer (taking the part played by Natalie Portman in the film), Anna has failed to make the kind of impact on the cinema screen that will secure big roles from casting directors — something she hopes will change with her new film, Goal! Someone must believe in the success of the movie because work has begun on filming the sequel and a third instalment is planned for next year. Friel is due to return to work in a few weeks and gossip columns have been rife with comments about her figure and reports that she is trying to lose weight for nude scenes in the sequel.

“It makes me so angry because there isn’t a shred of truth in what’s being printed,” she says. “Someone asked a producer what would happen to my character in part two, and the reply, clearly a joke, is that I’m going to be having a lot of sex and nude scenes. The next thing I know I am being accused of being an irresponsible role model to young women. But no one actually called me to check whether the reports were true.”

Continued on page two...()As their first joint investment she and Thewlis split the cost of a BMW X5 three years ago, but Thewlis is the one who drives it, leaving Friel to cope with his older Mini. Up until now this hasn’t been a problem — she’s quite enjoyed nipping around town in a smaller car — but since there isn’t much room for a pram she’s been keen to switch to a larger car.

“The Saab drives really well,” she says. “I didn’t want another BMW or a Mercedes because everyone has one of them. I never liked the old Saabs, which were very straight, but the newer model has got sleek curves and that’s very important to a woman.

“I used to have an MG and I love having the roof down — it’s the sexiest way to dry your hair. But I never felt very safe in it. It was tinny and light as though it could come off the road at any moment, so I’m relieved the Saab feels so chunky and solid.”

She is careful, she says, to prevent her natural caution on the road (she has no points on her licence) from extending to nagging when she is in the passenger seat. Thewlis — whose father used to drive racing cars — knows London like the back of his hand so won’t tolerate any advice or directions from the passenger seat, she says.

“That’s one way guaranteed to get him cross,” she says. “At the moment we’ve got a bit of an argument going about the indicator — I always put it on to let drivers know I want to pull out, but he only puts it on when he actually moves out, having waited for a space first. We debate who is right and who is wrong and I think I’m right because I’ve done the driving test more recently.”

She is surprisingly open about intimate aspects of her life — even to the extent of explaining why she won’t open her mouth to smile for the photographer. She is wearing braces to close gaps in her teeth brought on by mouth sores that her doctor has told her are due to a hormone imbalance.

“They’re really big and horrid — look,” she says, peeling back her upper lip to reveal lumps between her teeth. “I’ve had to have them cut out without anaesthetic four times and now they have created gaps in my teeth so I’m wearing braces. I feel sorry for every teenager who ever had to endure them — they are so painful.”

Nice to know that Hollywood hasn’t glossed over her northern directness.

On her CD changer

I usually choose something classical: orchestral music by Debussy, or a Bach concerto. Driving is my thinking time and music like this doesn’t get in the way. I’ve also got into X&Y by Coldplay, although I didn’t like it at first

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