'I can look really rough, but I wouldn't change a thing'

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Feb 8, 2004 | by Deirdre O'Brien

The pursuit of perfection has kept Joely Richardson in the news recently, thanks to her role as Julia McNamara, the frustrated wife of a plastic surgeon in hit US drama Nip/Tuck. Much has been made of the fact that at 39, Joel is whippet-thin and, unusually for an actress of her vintage, entirely untouched by the surgeon's knife. So it's no wonder there was an uproar when she was quoted in the press as saying she was so unhappy with her appearance she could think of at least 10 things she'd like to change.

As soon as the subject is raised, Joely rolls her eyes. 'I couldn't believe all that fuss. Everywhere I looked, there it was, in headlines, in capitals: "Joely - the 10 things I hate about myself". I just thought, "When could I possibly have said that?"

'I remember one journalist asking if I'd change anything about myself, and obviously if I'd said "no" it would have sounded awful, so I said something like, "On a bad day, I could probably tell you a ton of things, but I'm happy with myself."

'I mean, I can look horrendous if the make-up and lighting are harsh. At the very worst, I can look like a man in drag. But all in all, my attitude is, take what you've got and make it work. I don't sit around making lists about my body. For a start, I have better things to think about, and I'm not that self-obsessed.'

And frankly, there's really not much that needs changing, which is why Principles asked Joely and her flatmate, actress and former model Selina Giles, to spend four days at a private retreat in Mexico, modelling clothes from their Spring/Summer collection, some of which M Celebs reveals here.

'It wasn't exactly a tough job,' Joely says. 'I've never done any modelling before, but it was easy to relax into it. And I was with Selina - we've travelled together loads and we share a house when I'm in LA, so we had a real giggle.'

It's a few years since Joely's been in the news quite so much. Back then, it was thanks to two things - her on-off romance with Jamie Theakston, and her habit of showing off her long limbs in tiny backless dresses at film premieres. The romance with Jamie is now definitely off (he's involved with supermodel Erin O'Connor) and it's been a while since Joely's been out in a barely-there frock.

'Ah, the backless dresses,' she smiles. 'Recently I've been wearing long frocks. I might wear a short dress again, but it would have to be appropriate. To wear one at the BAFTAS or the Golden Globes would be the wrong kind of attention.'

An actress talking about 'the wrong kind of attention'? What can she mean?

'Like going to your friend's wedding in a bikini or showing your knickers,' says Joely. She and Selina crease up laughing at the obvious swipe at Liz Hurley, who famously flashed her leopard-print pants at the wedding of her friend Henry Dent-Brocklehurst to model Lily Maltese, thoroughly upstaging the bride.

Much like La Hurley, Joely's been spending a lot of time in LA while filming Nip/Tuck, but she doesn't regard herself as a resident quite yet.

'No, no, not all. I saw an article referring to "ex-pat Joely Richardson" and I thought, "Don't banish me!" - I haven't decamped on that level,' she says.

But she is enjoying LA, where she and Selina rented a house last summer.

'Our lives just happen to coincide. Selina was going out to LA too and we both needed somewhere to live.'

And it doesn't sound like they had too many arguments about whose turn it was to put out the bins.

'Selina was great at calming me down. I remember my first day on Nip/Tuck. I was in a total state - I always find read-throughs nerve- wracking, so I was flapping about. Selina was like, "I'm not doing anything, I'll drive you into the studio." So we jumped in the car, and our hair was blowing in the wind as we drove along Sunset Boulevard - it was so nice, a very LA moment.'

Of course, Joely needn't have worried. She was nominated for Best Actress for Nip/Tuck at the Golden Globes (she was pipped to it by Six Feet Under's Frances Conroy), and she's heading back to LA at the end of the month to start work on the second series.

The arrangement suits her, as it allows her to spend part of the year with her 11-year-old daughter Daisy, whose father is film producer Tim Bevan. Joely and Tim's four-year marriage came to an end in 1996 and Joely has mostly been single since then. 'I date, but I've had too much work on over the past 12 months to have a serious relationship, but I would like one. I am looking for romance, that's for sure. But I am very happy with life.'

Principles Spring/Summer 2004 collection is now available in stores. Call 0870 122 8802 for stockists