What's on your passport, Jane Asher?
By Tony Watts - Editor - 11/02/2009
Anyone around in the 60s will know that Jane Asher was once one of the most ‘connected’ people in the world of show business: not just as a successful actress (starting as a young child but going on to star in the iconic movie ‘Alfie’ with Michael Caine) but also as the girlfriend and muse of Paul MacCartney.
She moved in exalted circles. But when that phase of her life ended, she stayed in the spotlight: first as a fine actress, then – when she was looking to keep herself busy at home when raising a family – as the creator of party cakes so delicious that the world began to beat a path to her door… and so began another phase of her life.
Now her party cakes business rolls nicely along, her acting career is back at full tilt and – in the gaps in between – she even finds time to front some of most worthy charities. Never one to rest on her laurels, obviously. And it’s clear talking to her as she takes a break from rehearsing for her latest TV venture, that she has the supreme gift for compartmentalising her life and getting the very most out of everything she puts her hand to.
So how are the rehearsals going? “Really well,” says Jane. “It’s a new sitcom for the BBC called ‘The Old Guys’ which is a kind of a cross between ‘The Odd Couple’ and ‘Men Behaving Badly’.”
A sort of ‘Old Men Behaving Badly’ then? “A bit!” she smiles. “There are two terrific actors in it – Roger Lloyd Pack, who everyone knows from ‘Vicar of Dibley’ and ‘Fools and Horses’, and Clive Swift, who was wonderful in ‘Keeping up Appearances’. And me! I’m the divorcee who lives across the road who causes problems when they both get obsessed with me.
“It’s lovely to work with new material like this. And the writers themselves are there – looking for new ideas while we’re rehearsing and adding in lines as we go along.”
Doesn’t that make it harder to rehearse? “Yes and no – you feel as if it’s coming alive and taking shape as you go along. I’ve worked with writers like Alan Ayckbourn and he will argue that every comma is in there for a purpose. I have a lot of respect for him, as everything is beautifully balanced. It’s just a different way of doing it.”
Unusually, the programme is going straight onto a prime spot on BBC1 – a sure commendation that they think this one will hit big ratings. “We did a read through with the executives about nine months ago and they didn’t even ask for a pilot. They just commissioned it there and then.”
As this paper hits the streets, the first episodes will be broadcast – a nerve wracking time for any actor. But it’s not as though Jane’s reputation will be made or lost on one show. She has just had the call back to reprise her role as Lady Byrne in Holby City. And she is an actress that can always command lead roles in the West End too. So which of the many roles that she has played gives her the most pride?
“That’s an interesting question. Certainly the one that leaps out is ‘Closing Numbers’ which we performed in 1993. It looked at the Aids epidemic – then viewed as a ‘gay plague’ – through the eyes of a heterosexual woman. It was very clever and really got its points across without being preachy.
“‘Festen’, which we performed at the Almeida Theatre, was the stage production of an extraordinary film. It was very harrowing and we knew we were doing something very special.” The play, which dealt with child abuse, won massive reviews for Jane’s “truly chilling” performance: a character that she seems able to slip into remarkably easily when you consider her real life, warmer relaxed and chatty persona.
In common with many show business personalities, Jane is involved with charity work. But in her case she really puts in some long shifts on behalf of good causes. “I was involved with eight or ten at one time,” she says, “but I couldn’t give any of them the support they need. So now I’m concentrating on just three.” She is currently president of the National Autistic Society, Arthritis Care, and of the Parkinson’s Society.
“They’re all very different and all, in their own way, very challenging causes. Arthritis is often seen as an ‘old people’s disease’ making it difficult to get people to realise it’s not just something that always comes along with old age. It’s devastating at any age – and young people are affected by it too.” She can speak knowledgeably on that, having being diagnosed at a young age with ankylosing spondylitis herself, a type of arthritis that affects joints in the lower back.
“Parkinson’s too – well again, lots of people assume that it’s a condition only suffered by older people, and that it’s ‘just the shakes’. But it’s much more serious than that. And, as sufferers like Michael J Fox prove, it can also affect younger people. It’s the one cause that I have a family connection with as my brother in law suffers from it. And there’s real hope,” she says passionately, “that with enough money going into research we can find a cure.”
Jane is currently fronting a new joint health education campaign run by Seven Seas, aimed at getting people of all ages thinking about their joints through diet, lifestyle and exercise tips – with different messages aimed at specific age groups.
“If people do not look after their joints when they are young, they are much more likely to suffer joint pain and even arthritis when they are older,” says Jane. “But when you are older there’s still a lot you can do with exercise and supplements – I take Joint Care Max, with glucosamine – and keeping your weight down. I also swim a lot – and that helps me sleep better too.”
And away from the stage? There are her books – she’s written three. Don’t forget her very convincing performances with a baton in the TV celebrity series ‘Maestro’ of 2008. And did I mention the cakes?
Wasn’t it during turbulent times that the masses were once advised to eat cake?
‘Ah well,” she points out. “There’s a dispute about Marie Antoinette ever saying that now!” So how does keeping trim fit in with making cakes? “There’s no magic,” she says. “The more cakes you eat, the slimmer you get! But seriously, if don’t eat them too often, they’re a delicious treat.”
And now for that final question: what role does she put on her passport? “It has to be ‘actress’, she says. So are there any big parts left to play? “No,” she says, “I’m just always looking to do new work.”