Would
you ever consider a role in Eastenders or Coronation
Street?
As
long as she was a proper character, I'd adore it. Providing it
wasn't the same old, same old. You don't turn down a proper
character in any movie or TV show. The thing that surprises me
is how big UK soaps have become. They are almightily popular.
What
is your character like in Nobody's Perfect?
She's
a feminist publisher. A man submits his book in a woman's name
and when he wins a prize has to dress up as her. But he finds he
can communicate better and my character can, too. She goes from
being a toughie back to a little girl who believes in Disney and
true love. It's a very 'ahhh' sort of play. But it's too funny
to be really soppy.
When
you're in the UK, where is your London home?
I
live in Bayswater, just by Hyde Park. My sister, who lives in
America, says I live by one of the great 'lungs' of London. My
daughter Phoebe lives just across the park in Mayfair, posh
little creature! We meet half way across the park and play
tennis.
You
seem very close to your daughters.
Yes
I am. Phoebe and I will phone each day just to exchange cooking
tips like, 'I just put more salt on it and it was really good.'
This is not necessarily deep talk. We talk every day even when
I'm in America. I'm forever popping things in the post for Jude,
even if I've seen him the day before.
How
much of the year do you spend in London?
It
depends really. I spent the first part of the year in America
and came back for my grandson's birthday. Phoebe said I would
not be forgiven if I wasn't there!
Do
you enjoy having bases on both sides of the Atlantic?
Something
that's getting more and more boring is packing. I do very nice
packing, everything in little ziplocks. Then, after a couple of
weeks on tour, it'll be 'Oh God, where did I put the shampoo?'
After a while, you don't pack, you throw. I will become a Louis
Vuitton bag lady!
What
do you always take with you when you're travelling
transatlantic?
I
bought one of those minuscule video cameras because of Jude,
which I take with me. I've also got a laptop, which is tiny. But
the charger for the camera is absolutely enormous, as is the
instruction manual for my tiny radio! So I need a bag just for
electrical things. I need someone with enormously big muscles
who hasn't got anything to do for a month but drive and pack!
With
all this travelling it must be hard to find time to work out.
How do you manage to stay so trim?
I
adore fast walking but I want my arms in better shape. I've got
little sandbag things to do arm and leg exercises with, but my
shoulder would be out if I took all that stuff with me. Rushing
around is quite good for keeping weight off. Swimming is the big
one, which is what I do, mainly when I'm in America. When I had
my children I put on about five stone both times. I didn't like
being fat at all. I lost the weight quickly and never put it
back on again. Now I'm a size six in very expensive labels -
they do like to flatter their clients! - and a 12 in cheap
clothes.
Do
you generally consider yourself a healthy person?
Well,
I smoke the occasional cigarette and I drink coffee. I don't
drink alcohol at all. I never have, I don't like it. I lived
with an alcoholic. I'm not religious about it though... I mean
I'll have a Pimms in summer, on a punt, wearing a white dress.
That sort of thing. I gave up smoking for a year because of
Jude, as the idea of smoking around the baby was so disgusting!
But unfortunately you only have to have a couple of cigarettes
and you go zooming back again.
Do
you ever see any of your old friends from Dynasty?
Yes,
sometimes but everyone's rushing around doing their own things.
Chuck (Charlton) Heston and I did Love Letters together,
and now he's doing it with his wife Lydia. They've toured some
of the theatres we're going to.
What
else have you been up to in the last few months?
I've
done a film called Unconditional Love (also called Who
Shot Victor Fox) by the same people that made My Best
Friend's Wedding. It stars Rupert Everett and Kathy Bates
and it's a big 'Yankee Doodle' movie. I only have a tiny part
but it'll be fun when it comes out. I seem to like doing
comedies these days.
There
are few leading men or women Stephanie Beacham hasn't worked with
during her long theatrical career. But she is probably still best
known for her TV role as the formidable and impossibly glamorous
Sable Colby in the top '80s soap Dynasty, and spin-off
The Colbys. *Stephanie, who was born in Casablanca,
Morocco, to English parents, trained at the famous Etienne de
Creux Mime School in Paris then at The Royal Academy of Dramatic
Arts (RADA) in London - despite being totally deaf in one ear and
hearing impaired in the other.