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Happy-go-lucky Sally wins string of awards ahead of Golden Globes
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent18 Dec 2008
THE winners of the Golden Globes are yet to be named, and the Oscar nominations are still to come - but one British actress has already collected a string of awards this year.
Sally Hawkins has won the hearts of critics across America with her portrayal of Poppy, an eternally optimistic primary school teacher, in Happy-Go-Lucky.
The Dulwich-born, Rada-trained star has been named best actress at the Hollywood Film Awards and by the film critics' circles of New York, Los Angeles and Boston.
She is also in the running in Chicago where her rivals, announced at the weekend, include Angelina Jolie for Changeling and Meryl Streep for Doubt.
And at the Golden Globes, she is again up against Streep, this time for Mamma Mia!, in the category for comedies and musicals. Other contenders at the awards, on 11January, include Frances McDormand and Emma Thompson.
Hawkins, 32, who lives in Richmond, said: "It's incongruous. I feel like I've sneaked in and they have not realised. But it's lovely. It's really nice to be given a pat on the back - it's a worldwide pat."
The actress is nursing a broken collarbone, sustained while doing her own stunts as the lead in a romantic comedy - called Happy Ever After - in Ireland. However, she will be going to the Golden Globes ceremony next month and is delighted for Happy-Go-Lucky's director Mike Leigh, 65. He has also been lauded for best screenplay by the Los Angeles critics, and as best director by those in New York.
Hawkins first worked with him on her film debut, All Or Nothing, and later on Vera Drake. "He's so incredible. Creatively, it's like nothing else I've experienced in terms of acting. It's incredibly hard like I've never worked before but that's very rewarding. It's also terrifying," she added.
Happy-Go-Lucky was filmed mainly in Tufnell Park, Finsbury Park, Highbury and Camden. There are also scenes at the lake in Regent's Park, in Lower Marsh where Poppy is seen in a bookshop, and in Southend. Hawkins says she wants to work with Leigh again, Shane Meadows and "exciting" film-makers such as the Coen brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson.
"I'm a British actress and this is where I'm from and this is where my friends and family are. But also I love travelling and going where good work is. I just want to work with good people and have a long life as an actress," she said.
