Kerry Fox is a British actress, originally from New Zealand, 10 years into a fruitful career. She first captured the international film public's attention in 1990 with her exceptional role in "An Angel at My Table," directed by New Zealand's most famous female film director, Jane Campion ["The Piano," "Holy Smoke"].

In person, Kerry Fox is like an angel compared to the doll-like actresses of international cinema, shining with natural beauty in all its glory and mystery. Her complex role, delving into the psychology of the traumatic childhood of New Zealand's author Janet Frame, demonstrated Kerry's acting potential, bringing her into the light of international cinema. This film, though made for television, premiered with great success at the Venice Festival. The critics' first reactions, apart from praising Jane Campion's style, unfortunately neglected Kerry's acting potential and the complex character of Janet.

The first crucial film of the British phase of her career was the intriguingly playful big production "Shallow Grave" in 1994 with the most significant modern young British actor, Ewan McGregor. Soon, decent roles in more or less interesting films followed. First, there was the wonderful comedy "Fanny & Elvis" by Kay Mellor in 1998. A year later, the role of Claire in P. Cherau's "Intimacy" brought her one of the best female roles in the past ten years of European film. In "Intimacy" Kerry Fox portrayed a married woman, stuck in a worn-out marriage, who consequently enters a strange, bizarre and passionate relationship, with plenty of explicit sex scenes. For this role the jury of the Berlin Festival awarded her the Silver Bear for best actress. On the flip side, British film critics buried her alive, charactering "Intimacy" as her never-to-act-again film. Although British film critics disliked her in it, the 5th British Film Festival in Belgrade [Serbia], in Eastern Europe, paid tribute to the great talent and potential of actress Kerry Fox in April 2002.


Rada: What were the crucial moments in your career?

Kerry: I'm from New Zealand, so I never had the idea that I would become an internationally known actress. Obviously "An Angel at My Table" was the change for me; it opened the door to an international career. It's one of the films that can prove whether you can act or not.

I went to Australia and lived there for about six years, and there I met people who offered me a role in the film "Shallow Grave" by Danny Boyle. During that time I tried to work in New York and the UK and I'd traveled to America. And I'd met Danny Boyle on the stage and worked with him on a television series called "Mr. Rose's Virgins," which was a serial for the BBC. As we worked together, we talked lots about making a film together. We tried to work on an idea when I went back to Australia. And than he offered me the role of a female flatmate in "Shallow Grave." People would ask me, in the UK, what films I've been in, and when I say "Shallow Grave" they would ask: "Who were you?" And I would say… "There were three flatmates, and I was the girl."

This film made me feel that my niche was in the UK. The producer of "Shallow Grave" was also impressed by how well we worked together. I've moved to the UK since, and I've been very lucky to work with interesting and unusual directors. I've also played in "Intimacy" by Patrice Chereau, who is also a phenomenal director. All directors that I've been working with had been equally inspired, and somehow I've managed to change my thinking of the world and how to relate to people. And also my responsibilities, the responsibility about what sort of people I want to be with.

Rada: How did you become an actor?

Kerry: That is something that I always wanted to do. I had an extraordinary drama teacher starting at age 6. And I studied drama and acting with her until I was 21. She had a tremendous influence on my life. Basically that experience was not only about teaching me how to act, but she was also teaching me to communicate. She believed that communication was the most important skill that we needed in life, which is the main point of being an actor, as well as to be able to listen. She was very encouraging and inspiring, and she was also very committed to creating an identity which was unique and independent and to relay the culture of our background and what I wanted to do with my work. And then when I was 21, I went to New Zealand Drama, which was a great chance for me; and I started to perform and it gave me focus. Also, it made me believe that it was possible for me to be an actor.

Rada: British reviews for the film "Intimacy" were not that good; can you comment on that?

Kerry: Yes, it was said that I was manipulative and that I would disappear from the Earth as an actress, but I don't think that it's truth at all. I think that there is an obvious comparison with French films in Paris. In the UK, the commentary of the press is always negative. And the comparisons that critics made I don't think are the truth.

Kerry: It never happens like that. The truth is when you get an award, you don't work for a year. You are too busy and you are too expensive. And it's obvious that it's not because you are too frightened, or too intimidated. I don't know what it is, but certainly it is not that you don't get any offers. There was international recognition before showing the film in the UK, and I know that it had absolutely no effect on anything I've been offered after.

Rada: And are they overcome…

Kerry: They [critics] have no effect. Obviously there are lots of film directors who love my work. And obviously there are many more that I would never choose to go near, at all. And that is something that I would have no need to go to.

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