17 Jan Daphne Alexander shines as Modesty Blaise
http://justcelebrity.me/2013/01/17/daphne-alexander-shines-as-modesty-blaise/
Just Celebrity caught up with beautiful actress Daphne Alexander, to talk to her about her role as the ‘female James Bond’ Modesty Blaise, for a BBC Radio play. Daphne rose to fame in BBC Casualty and features like The Fourth Kind.
Daphne jokes that like the character she is playing they can both “kill a man with two blows”, so don’t run into her in a dark alley! LOL! This talented and stunning beauty actually has an uncanny resemblance to the real Modesty Blaise, which is why for the first time ever the BBC photographed and made a video of her as the character.
JC: Firstly, how did you get the role of playing Modesty Blaise?
DA: The lovely director/producer Kate McCall auditioned me via Skype. We had hardly exchanged two words when she offered me the part, saying that Modesty had as undefinable an English accent with an exotic twist as I do, and that we had an uncanny physical resemblance too – I was, as you can imagine, thrilled to hear this!
JC: Prior to getting the role, were you a fan of Modesty?
DA: I’d heard about Modesty Blaise and ages ago had watched an old film with Monica Vitti, but had never read the novels or the comic strips. I only realised what a magnificently well written character she was when I was offered the part and read A Taste For Death, the novel on which this radio drama – adapted by Stef Penney – is based.
JC: What do you like about her as a character?
DA: She is the definitive female heroine, absolutely in charge of her life. All men are second in command. She has wit, physical strength, humanity and charm. She is brave and intelligent. I was quite taken by the feminist way Peter O’Donnell, a male author in the 60′s, wrote. She is a fantastic stand alone heroine, brimming with grace and style, but who is also seductive and fun.
JC: Are there any similarities between yourself and Modesty?
DA: We can both kill a man with two blows…
JC: Is the radio play a similar style to the book or the film?
DA: Each medium has its own particularities. For radio, the slot is short, so the characters and plot line needed cutting down. The tone, however, of the novel was brilliantly retained by Stef Penney, who is a huge fan of the series.
JC: What was your favorite part of recording this radio play?
DA: Working alongside the amazing team of people – Stef the writer, Kate McCall the director, Eleri McAuliffe the producer, and the actors Alun Armstrong, Carl Prekopp, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Samantha Dakin, Nigel Anthony, Geoff Mash and Alex Fearns.
I also very much enjoyed taking part in a photoshoot as Modesty Blaise for which I put on a cat suit and got into full blown 60′s hair and make up!
JC: Have you ever done a Radio play before?
No, and I was thrilled to get this job. I have wanted to work on radio for years, and I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity!
by Just Celebrity