A Savage sweetness

Currently, of course, she's got lots to twinkle about. Jindabyne, Breach, The Nanny Diaries, Driving Lessons, Man Of The Year and now The Savages: within the past year, Linney has been so in demand that she had to shoot two movies simultaneously. 'Breach and Man Of The Year were both filmed in Toronto, so I was going back and forth between sets,' she explains.

A career high at 43, when Hollywood considers 90 per cent of actresses eligible for nothing hotter than a winter fuel allowance, is astonishing. Something this committed, theatre-trained actress is all too aware of.

'You know, I'm put on a lot of panels about ageing and actresses and feminism and I struggle with this issue. It's an important issue, and yet, at the same time, my heart always sinks a little bit when this topic comes up. And it always does, you know,' she sighs, making me feel like I've disappointed an utterly adored pre-school teacher.

'Not because of the issue itself but because what people are saying, whether they are aware of it or not,' she adds kindly, 'is "be afraid". And I have no desire to be afraid right now.'

Nor need she be. Her latest role in The Savages - a blackly comic drama about two selfish, middle-aged siblings (Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman) who are forced to finally grow up when they put their dad into a home - is rightly tipped for an Oscar. Having already been nominated twice, could this be her year? 'How nice of you to even have that thought in your head,' she laughs, a little flustered. 'It's just fun if it happens.'

'Fun' is a word this New Yorker uses constantly about her work. And when she tells me she was attracted to The Savages because 'it's a wonderful script', her tone is as heartfelt as Dorothy telling Auntie Em: 'There's no place like home.'

Another attraction was the chance to work with 'actor's actor' Hoffman. 'We just jumped off the cliff together because there wasn't much rehearsal. You do all your work, you show up and then you throw all your work out the window - and trust. Nothing is predetermined. It's all a little scary - but that's what makes it fun.'

As the daughter of respected off-Broadway playwright Romulus Linney, it's perhaps no surprise the bookish Linney reveres a good script. 'There's so much hidden in there - clues,' she explains intensely. 'If you really listen to the language, it can tell you how someone moves.'

And that she finds bad ones so offensive. 'There was one blockbuster I was offered... No!' she smilingly pre-empts me, 'I'd never tell you exactly which one. I was offered more money than I think I'll ever make in my entire lifetime and it was the worst script I have ever seen in my life. Believe me, I read it seven times - I thought my team were going to have a tantrum - I knew it would be absolutely atrocious and I would be atrocious in it. So I couldn't do it.'

This inconvenient integrity perhaps explains why the multi-award-winning Linney, despite being petite, blonde, pretty and all-round hot property, remains, in her words, 'not quite a movie star'.

'I think of myself as an actress who's privileged to be able to work in films. I know I'm in a unique position. Somehow I survived being typecast, just by working in so many different mediums and staying under the radar. So I'm just trying to stay a student and enjoy it.'

All this homework and no play could make nice Laura a dull girl.

But when I ask who her favourite fictional character is, I get the most surprising reply. 'I think Santa Claus - I just love him. He's very nice to me. He never lets me down. He dresses really well.

He's a good employer. He's kind to animals. He lives in a beautiful place. I've always had sort of a thing about Santa Claus.' She twinkles a last and surprisingly naughty smile. 'That sounds totally kinky - but it's honestly true.'

The Savages is in cinemas from Friday.