Rising Scottish star VALERIE EDMOND plays a young woman with cancer in One More Kiss, but don't expect Hollywood sentimentality. Words: Hannah mom > '
IN THE TELEVISION ADAPTATION OF IAIN BANKS'S The Crow Road, Glasgow-born Valerie Edmond shone as Joe McFadden’s boyish sidekick. She’s still more striking in Vadim Jean’s new film, One More Kiss, though her character could hardly be more different. Sarah, a glamorous, bolshy businesswoman, wreaks emotional havoc when she returns to her sleepy home town with some shocking news and a shocking demand. Just diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer, she’s determined to pass her final weeks with her first love, now happily married.
‘What attracted me to the character was that I didn’t like her at first,’ Edmond recalls. ‘I also thought the script raised a lot of issues. If it was a man coming back to his ex- girlfriend, everyone would think it was really romantic. Because it’s a woman, it’s challenging.’
Certainly Sarah is no virtuous, noble dying swan. A smart-mouthed troublemaker in silver stilettoes, she’s not about to go gentle into that good night. ‘She’s fascinating,’ Edmond says. ‘There’s so much about her that I admire. She’s such a modern woman; she’s straightforward and she’s incredibly honest.’
Sarah’s other mission is just as tricky; she must rebuild her relationship with her taciturn, stubborn father, beautifully played by James Cosmo. Edmond has nothing but praise for her esteemed co-star, and for the director previously féted for Leon The Pig Farmer. ‘It was lovely. Everybody on the set felt really equal, and that’s a tribute to Vadim. It was an
12 THE “ST 20 Jan—3 Feb 2000
'I don't think it's appropriate to sit on the edge of some- one's bed and ask them how it feels to be dying.’
Valerie Edmond
easy shoot, even though some of the sequences are emotionally quite testing.‘
Shot using only natural light and real locations, the film has a gritty look. Sensitive performances and a subtle script by Suzie Hazlewood complicate further what could, in clumsier hands, have become a sugary morality tale. ‘There’s a lot of space around the story for you to make up your own mind,’ Edmond agrees. ‘There’s not a lot of cliches in it. It asks the viewer to do some work.’
Nor did Edmond follow the Hollywood luvvies’ real-life research blueprint. ‘I don’t think it’s appropriate to go and sit on the edge of someone’s bed and ask them how it feels to be dying; I wouldn’t like someone to do that to me. I did some medical research into what was happening to her brain, physiologically; and then I imagined what it would feel like to be in that situation myself.’
Since making One More Kiss, the rapid acceleration of Edmond’s career has proved both exciting and daunting. ‘The fame thing isn’t really something I’m interested in; I want to do the good work,’ she insists. ‘But getting this part has really pushed me forward into the frame for films. It was a very coveted role, and I’m very grateful to Vadim for giving it to me.’
She has since filmed Saving Grace with Brenda Blethyn and Love And Rage with Greta Scacchi; continued her Iain Banks association with Compliciry; and shot several episodes of gritty TV drama The Vice with Ken Stott. ‘I am exhausted,’ she admits. ‘It’s a busy time, but I’m getting to work with some fabulous people.’
So she won’t be donning her catsuit to audition for The Matrix 2?
‘Actually, you’ve hit the nail on the head — that is the film that I would most want to do. I’ve told my agent that too! But then, there’s probably an actress sitting in Hollywood right now going, “I’d like to do a low budget British film”. They do have cachet. I wouldn’t swap places with anyone right now. I’m just learning, learning to get better, and that’s a luxury.’
One More Kiss goes on selected release across Scotland on Fri 21 Ian. See review, page 25.