Actress Nikki Amuka-Bird, who played the jealous wife Alice Busang in The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, the last film directed by Anthony Minghella, was also at the Minghella Movie Marathon press conference the weekend before last.
We’d been listening to the various stars, in front and behind the camera, talk of how amazing it was to work with Anthony and had wondered what it was like for someone to come to his later films, with his huge reputation – 24 Oscar / 36 BAFTA nominations and 10 Oscar / 10 BAFTA wins for his films.
We thought it must have been pretty daunting, so asked Nikki.
She started by saying that it was a dream come true for her to work with Anthony and admitted to being very nervous initially, but this quickly faded, as “He had this way of putting you at ease almost instantly.”
“He entered into the experience with you. He never put himself above you,” Nikki explained – something we heard a lot from actors that weekend.
Family atmosphere
Again, the family atmosphere was spoken about, “Very quickly, having been so in awe of him, you just felt part of the family,” said Nikki.
She continued, “You really wanted to give him your best work and you felt like he could help you get to that point, so it was wonderful.”
(To watch the video full size, simply click 
)
Background: Nikki Amuka-Bird
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Thanks again to Mike Furness (TV industry veteran and part of the soon-to-launch VentnorTV team) for shooting the video.
Image: Julian Winslow
See more coverage of the Minghella Movie Marathon.
