So Keen on Keeley
One-time model Keeley Hawes got her break in Dennis Potter’s Karaoke. She’s since proved herself by playing roles as diverse as a young Diana Dors and a hard-hearted, corseted minx in Wives and Daughters. She talks to us about being a mum and her latest roles — as a spy and a bisexual male-impersonator…
Last year you were adjusting to being a working mum and said you fancied marrying your partner Spencer. Are you still planning to?
We have! I am! We got married on December 7. It was at Marylebone Register Office — because I’m from that part of London — and it’s a gorgeous building. When we came out it was dark and the Christmas lights and decorations were twinkling — it was lovely. I used to want a big wedding but it was a nightmare to plan, so we went for just 25 people — our families and very close friends. We all went to a dinner and dance at the Ritz afterwards, which was wonderful. Spencer and I had two days in Amsterdam then it was straight back to work for me because I was set to start filming a new spy drama, Spooks.
Can I see the rings?
I don’t wear them to work — I’m terrified of losing them. For Spooks I can’t have them on anyway because my character, Zoe, is single. My engagement ring is a square-cut diamond on a platinum band, with a matching platinum wedding ring. Spencer got me the engagement ring in Tiffany’s in New York a couple of years ago. We’d been looking at things in the shop and when I left to make a phone call, he bought the ring I’d said I liked. We were planning to get married, but then I got pregnant with Myles, so we postponed it.
Now you’ve tied the knot does it feel very different?
Yes, and I really like it — I feel more secure somehow. Now if we have a row and I say something silly like: “Right, that’s it. I’m off!” I know that I’m not going anywhere and that we’re staying together. It does sound funny when I say “my husband” though. I still can’t seem to get used to it.
How long have you and Spencer, 29, been together now?
About four years. We were friends for a long time before we actually got together and in the end it just happened naturally. I didn’t want to be an older mum — my mum had my eldest brother when she was 18, so I was getting on. I’m 26 and Myles will be two in August.
Would you like more children?
Yes, definitely, but I think two will be enough for me. I didn’t plan it at all last time. So I don’t think I will plan it this time, although I would like there not to be too big a gap between children. We’ll have to see. With Myles I took the full nine months off because I didn’t want to take any risks. Then I had three months off after he was born. So it was a big gap and I was ready to go back to work.
Was it a wrench to leave him?
I’m incredibly lucky because Spencer works from home — as a cartoon designer — and so if I’m ever away, Myles is with him. We always make sure at least one of us is there. I wouldn’t want a nanny — especially not before Myles can speak, because children can’t tell you if anything is wrong while you’re away. Spencer’s parents live quite close to us and as Myles is their first grandchild they love to help out. My parents have got eight grandchildren — I’m their youngest child and have two older brothers and a sister.
You were brought up in a Marylebone council flat and you and your family still live in that area. Your two elder brothers are London Cabbies, like your dad. Did your stable family background help your success? Yes. I was brought up to do my best and I try to do that whatever I’m working on. I was at Sylvia Young’s stage school, then I modelled for a while after being spotted in the street. I moved on to be a magazine fashion assistant and that’s when I got the call about Dennis Potter’s Karaoke. Since then I’ve been lucky with work. I haven’t had a plan, I’ve just taken stuff that’s come along. I certainly haven’t been cash driven — I’m absolutely terrible with money.
Do you ever bring Myles to work?
Yes, I have been while filming on Spooks. It’s been like a creche on some recent jobs — I seem to be surrounded by actors with children. David Oyelowo, who’s co-starring in Spooks, has his wife and five-month-old here. Mind you, a baby is much more controllable than Myles. He’s into everything. I don’t bring him on set too much because he’d just end up pulling wires out and knocking over computers on desks. We have a nice new TV and video at home and so far he’s managed to post a selection of toast and small toy cars into the video recorder.
You’ve worked on a string of dramas due out in coming months — have you consciously been working more since the birth of Myles?
Not really — I have filmed a lot of one-off dramas recently because they’re quick to film. It means only a few days away from home at a time and none of them were filmed abroad. There was Othello on ITV1 at Christmas and then ITV’s A is for Acid with Martin Clunes about an infamous acid bath murderer. Speaking of babies, Martin had his daughter around on set as well. Then I did Lucky Jim for ITV1 with Stephen Tompkinson and his daughter came on set, so it’s been very child-friendly lately.
Did you do any research for your role in Spooks? And if so, how? After all, working spies are not exactly listed in Yellow Pages…
Actually we did manage to speak to some former spies. I have no idea how the BBC found them. (Apparently, one of the writers knew a security company run by ex-spies). We all had a wine-fuelled evening at a club in London — I better not say where. We were allowed to ask them any questions we liked, but were told they might not answer them all. There were former MI5 agents — which is what David, Matthew Macfadyen and Jenny Agutter and I play. We deal with all kinds of terrorist conspiracies. It was strange to be actually speaking to people who have really done that for a living. There were also a couple of ex-CIA guys and a former KGB agent. There was only one woman and I didn’t get to talk to her much, I talked most to the ex-KGB guy. All the men looked kind of like you would expect them to look — very manly. They told some amazing stories in a very matter of fact way — stories about risking their lives in terrifying situations — and they spoke as if they were talking about lavatory cleaning. They weren’t looking for any glory, they were telling us because we’d asked. I definitely got the feeling that their relationships had suffered because they always had to be on their guard and keep secrets — even their partners had to be vetted for six months. They get paid peanuts and there’s no real kudos in it because you can’t tell your friends what you do. The former spies we spoke to have now set up their own business to try and make some money. I asked why they became spies in the first place and they said it was for the buzz, the excitement.
What is your character, Zoe, like? Does she live for the adrenalin rush too?
Zoe gets into some pretty difficult situations, but she does like the excitement and she is good at it — she’s a career spy and it’s her life. She is a loner and you don’t see much of Zoe’s background, but in my head I’ve decided that her father was probably an MI5 boss so she was more or less born into it.
Do you think you could manage that line of work in real life?
I’d be hopeless — I’d never be able to keep my job a secret. I would be down the pub and after one glass of wine I’d be so desperate to tell someone, it would be like: “Hey you, I’m a SPY” to passing strangers.
With a settled family life, what is next on the career front?
As soon as I finish this series I start filming Tipping The Velvet, for BBC2. It is a story about the sexual awakening of a young woman, played by Rachael Stirling. I don’t think my experiences as a mum will be too helpful as I play a bisexual male-impersonator with a short-back-and-sides haircut…
By Annie Leask for The Sunday Mirror.
(Source: The Free Library)