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FILM preview
Sexual position
Scottish actress LAURA FRASER is on a roll, with Virtual Sexuality first on her list. Words: Rob Fraser
Laura Fraser has been in demand ever since her breakthrough performance in Small Faces, but 1998 saw her schedule go from crowded to frantic. ’It was extreme,’ she admits, her voice turned to gravel by too many Marlboro Lights, too much coffee, too many interwews like this one. 'My whole lllf’ was extreme I was a bit Of a rlisaster that whole year '
Disastrous or not, twelve months’
'Anthony Hopkins reminded me of my grandfather, so that made
it all right.’ Laura Fraser
hard labour helped the 23-year-old build a varied body of work, and its first fruits can be seen in Virtual Sexuality It’s not the best teen (‘oiriedy you'll ever see, but Fraser rises above the material, glowmg With that special something called star quality. Although Justifiably proud to star in
the first British entry in a thus far exclusively American genre — 'I loved Ferris Buel/er's Day Off — the actress is candid concerning the problems of playing someone in the grip of adolescent hormonal urges.
'It was hard to keep up that energy,‘ she admits, ‘being young and giggly all the time, when you were feeling tired and cold .and old and cynical and twisted. And the people would talk to you, thinking you were like the character, so I’d have to say, "I'm not a silly wee girl actually, fuck off.
The role also required donning a frankly hideous frock and smouldering in slow motion in an attempt to catch the eye of the man of her dreams. Fraser now visibly shudders at the memory. 'I hated that scene so much. I had to just think it’s not me doing this — it's her, and she’s doing it to impress him. I would never wear something like that dress and those heels — I felt like such an arse.’
Her next role, in The Match, is at least closer to her actual age, if not personality. ’I play this girl brought up in the village of Inverdoon,’ she explains. 'She comes back from studying in London because she’s still in love with a guy there, and tries to sort out everybody's life..She’s nothing like me ~ I wouldn’t dare change anyone else, I'm too busy trying to change myself, ’cause I'm such a fucking disaster.’
She'd be wise not to change too
much, or risk Iosmg the spark which saw her cast as Anthony Hopkins’ daughter in the forthcoming Shakespeare adaptation, Titus. The Glaswegian newcomer soon got over any butterflies when it came to performing opposite the legendary Welshman.
'I was nervous when I met him, but once we were acting together it was fine. He reminded me of my grandfather, so that made it all right ' Not that Fraser passed news of the resemblance on to her screen father. ’I didn’t tell him, 'cause I thought he'd be pissed off. He was kneeling down
Daily mirror: Laura Fraser in Virtual Sexuality
one day and somebody offered him a cushion and he went "No! I'm not old!”'
Fraser plans a trip to Hollywood this summer, haVing overcome some initial reluctance. 'In a way I was like, "I don't want to do all that shit",’ she recalls. 'Then I thought, all I need to do is go over, get an agent - choose a nice one — then come back and get sent a few more scripts.‘ As career plans go, it sounds incredibly simple, but for Laura Fraser, it might Just work.
Virtual Sexuality opens on Fri 2 Jul. See review.
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22 THE “ST 24 Jun-8 Jul 1999
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