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NO MORE BUTTERFLIES
Laura Fraser has metamorphosed from the girl who battled
cocaine addiction and doubted her own talent into one of
Scotland's rising stars
Self-confidence is an unfamiliar feeling to Laura Fraser
- despite being one of Scotland’s hottest young
actresses she hasn't always had it. In fact she is still
not altogether sure of her abilities even after the
recent success of A Knight's Tale. But
following a period when things were somewhat off the
rails, it seems her career, amongst other things, is
flourishing once more.
Fraser has made 12 films in the past four years, but her
career started in 1996 when she was still at drama
school. She starred alongside Steven Duffy in Small
Faces, Gillies MacKinnon's tale of Glasgow gang
culture. Along with Trainspotting, the
film launched the careers of a new generation of Scottish
actors, including Joe McFadden and Kevin McKidd.
"There is a real crowd of Scots in London now and
it's a good group to be part of But I don't think that we
should ever he pigeon-holed. Actors should be able to
take on any part - just because you're used to one medium
doesn't mean that you should he scared of another,"
she says.
And Fraser, who trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of
Music and Drama, has tried quite a few. The next time we
see the Glaswegian actress on the big screen (which she
says won't be too long), it will be as a pregnant girl
training to be a mechanic in Ireland in Coney
Island Baby, an independent American film. For
one so young - she's 26 - she's had a stab at a wide
variety of parts, from a spotty teenager in Kevin
and Perry Go Large to Titus, a
reworking of Shakespeare's most gruesome creation, Titus
Andronicus.
'Working with Harry Enfield was actually a really good
giggle, the atmosphere was the same off set as on. I've
been really fortunate to work with some amazing people,
like Isabella Rossellini in Left Luggage
~ a film I made a couple of years back. She really
inspired me. But Titus was probably my
biggest challenge to date. We suffered a gruelling shoot
in Rome and I really didn't enjoy it too much. I play a
character who is raped and mutilated and also has her
tongue cut out - so luckily I didn't have to speak too
much."
Titus has been hailed as a high point in
Fraser's acting life for her treatment of the complex and
harrowing role of Lavinia, Titus' daughter. But it was
physically and emotionally draining. 'I arrived in Rome
having never done Shakespeare before and immediately
found myself sitting round a table with the likes of
Anthony Hopkins, who played my father, and everyone had
to comment on the play and give opinions. When it came to
my turn I just said 'pass'. The pressure seemed
overwhelming and I just kept thinking, this is a big
mistake and I should go home."
Things have changed and Fraser now has a better sense of
self-worth, but still confesses to hating auditions.
"It's all about being tested and is usually an awful
process. But I am more confident now because my life is
more stable and I'm much happier than I was a couple of
years ago. If my acting doesn't work out, then everything
else no longer falls apart as well. I'm over all that
now."
This is a metamorphosis from the girl Fraser was three
years ago - she speaks openly about her past cocaine
habit that was spinning out of control.
"I was ruining my life because that's what drugs do
to people. It was an immensely destructive period for me
and understandably had a bad effect on my career -someone
who isn't nice and isn't reliable is not good to have on
set or anywhere else, to be honest. I was young and silly
and I let the pressures of the world I live in get to me
in a way that they shouldn't ever have:'
But with the past firmly where it belongs, Fraser is
positive about the present and the future.
Her performance as Kate in A Knight's Tale
has reinstated Fraser as a young talent to keep an eye
on, a fact she recognises, even if a little reluctantly.
"It was a big success and it's great to be
associated with something like that. Not only was it fun,
but it also helps you get better jobs and makes your
score higher on the producer's point system. Prague was a
brilliant place to be based and I had my family and
friends to stay a lot at weekends. I played a blacksmith
who hangs out with the boys. For some reason I get a lot
of tom-boy parts – Coney Island Baby
is the same - but I don't know why she says with a smile.
Fraser laughs at the suggestion that working alongside
Australian heart-throb Heath Ledger might have been a
distraction when filming. "He's a very sweet,
generous person who is so openhearted but my boyfriend,
Paul Bettany, was also in the film, playing Geoffrey
Chaucer' she points out.
Having just arrived back to her London base after a
promotional stint at the Miami Film Festival (they
offered her the key to the city; much to her amusement),
the young actress is tired but clearly full of enthusiasm
for the next round of filming on location - particularly
because it brings her back to Scotland, a trip she rarely
gets a chance to make these days. Sixteen Years
af Alcohol starts shooting in Edinburgh in
January and is based on the life of its writer, Richard
Jobson. "It's quite abstract and dreamy and follows
the story of his troubled childhood. I play a
middle-class girl who becomes a part of his life. I'm
really looking forward to getting started on it)' she
explains.
But it's not all serious. At Christmas, Fraser will star
in the BBC costume drama Station Jim. A
festive tale, it features a runaway performing dog taken
in by a lovelorn station porter (who pines after Fraser)
and Prunella Scales as Queen Victoria, who could save the
local orphanage from being shut down. Perfect for
watching with a tray of mince pies and the kids,
according to Fraser. "Station Jim is a lovely story
and just right for families. Playing a school teacher in
an orphanage, I was surrounded by kids, which I
absolutely loved. Working with children is fantastic
-maybe it just makes me realise just how much I want them
some day."
One of the qualities she's most proud of is her new-found
ability to detach from a character. 'Separating myself
from any role has always been hard for me. I get far too
involved so easily, or at least I used to -these days I'm
finding it easier to get back to reality at the end of
the day. No doubt the cocaine didn't help, but then Titus
came just after I had quit the drugs and that was a
horribly difficult time, too. Thankfully, I don't have to
deal with that any more and I would never look
back," she states firmly.
This is a new era in the life of Laura Fraser. Even
though she is hesitant to speak about her relationship
with Bettany, one of Britain's fastest-rising young
stars, it is clear he makes her happy. The pair met after
they had both auditioned for a comedy and been rejected.
The drugs are a distant memory, probably because she
discusses them openly - cocaine is not a dark secret,just
a mistake she made years ago. And she is working, which
in one of the most unpredictable of professions is not
always guaranteed. Fraser has learnt to accept that just
because you are out of work does not mean you are not
good at it. "Most of the time you have no idea
what's going to happen next but that's OK now"
The contrast between the old Fraser and the happy actress
of today calls to mind the transformation of caterpillar
into butterfly - but the analogy wouldn't be quite
accurate.You see, Laura Fraser has clearly always been a
dazzling butterfly -she just didn't know it until now.
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