BADGIRL COMES GOOD; From lesbian kisses in a women's prison, to muddy boots and jumpers in Monarch Of The Glen, at 40 Simone Lahbib is preparing for her biggest role yet ... as a mother.

The Daily Mail
(London, England)

Date: February 26, 2005

 

Byline: MAUREEN CULLEY

SIMONE Lahbib is gleeful at the prospect of her next role, which she has craved more than any other - even though it will not see her grace the silver screen. The stunning Scottish actress is expecting her first child with Italian husband, Raffaello Degruttola, and could not be happier at the news, especially as motherhood is the one part she had begun to think might never come her way.

The mother-to-be, who made her name in ITV's Bad Girls series, celebrated her 40th birthday earlier this month and admits to having wondered if her biological clock had ticked its last tock.

'I'm so excited,' she said, on a visit to her family home in Stirling. 'I've been wanting to start a family since we've been married, but we've spent lots of time apart. We've been together for eight years and you do start to get worried and I did think it wasn't going to happen.

Finally I can say: "We've done it." I'm ten weeks gone.' It was playing Helen Stewart, the bisexual governor of the women's prison in Bad Girls, that made Simone a star and inspired a worldwide following. A controversial scene in which she was filmed in a passionate embrace with her gay lover shocked some viewers, but the family-minded actress said it was all part of a day's work - and she was only really concerned about what her grandmother would have to say.

'There wasn't a real sexual chemistry between us, which made things easier,' she confides. 'When we were doing a love scene, it wasn't like "Ooh, we're about to do a kiss", it was more working out the feeling behind it.

'I was really worried about telling my granny about the scenes, but she was really cool about it. She just said: "That's all right, dear, as long as you didn't enjoy it."' Feted as one of Britain's hottest acting talents, the glossy brunette was last seen on screen in the BBC's Monarch Of The Glen. She played feisty Isobel Anderson, who turned her back on her career in the city to run her late grandmother's farm. Muddy wellington boots and woolly jumpers were as stylish as it got for her character, who will not be returning for the final series - due to begin filming in seven weeks - because Simone's pregnancy could not be written into the show.

The daughter of a French-Algerian, Joseph Lahbib, who was head chef at Gleneagles Hotel, and a Scots mother, Jean, Simone always knew she wanted to act. She got her break in 1999 in The Young Person's Guide to Being a Rock Star. Other roles have included a tough policewoman in the two-part action thriller Fallen last year and the man-hungry sister of Martin Kemp in the gangland thriller Family.

HER work on Monarch Of The Glen, which is filmed near Kingussie, Invernessshire, helped boost her international profile as audiences as far apart as China, America and Australia are enthralled by the series' quirky plots and breathtaking Scottish scenery.

But while the show was good for her career, filming kept her apart from Raffaello, who starred in the blockbuster Saving Private Ryan.

He stayed at the couple's base in London while Simone returned to her Scottish homeland for six months.

The couple met while she was filming the ITV show Thief Takers in 1997 and tied the knot six years later in a romantic ceremony in the shadow of Stirling Castle, followed by a lavish champagne reception at the nearby Stirling Highland Hotel.

Simone described her wedding as the 'happiest day of my life', while her husband said he was the 'luckiest man alive'. She said: 'It was really out of the blue and he did the proper thing and asked my dad's permission for my hand in marriage. It was really special.

'About three weeks after meeting him, and us courting, he said to me: "I know you are the woman I am going to marry." That's one of the things I love about him. He's a very clear-thinking person.' Raffaello is presently in Los Angeles, trying to sell his first movie script, and filming commitments do keep the pair apart, but Simone said: 'We are definitely proof that long-distance relationships do work. You've just got to make that extra special effort - we talk up to 12 times a day, so our phone bills are enormous - and we have lots of fabulous holidays together. Every time we meet up it's like a second honeymoon all over again.

'Of course it's hard to think about starting a family when you never see someone, but we've been together all the time since November last year and it's been wonderful.

'When I thought I was pregnant and said it to him, his face just lit up. He said: "Do you think so? Are you going to get a test?" It's really nice when your husband is excited as well.

Raffaello wasn't with me when I did the test. I was on my own at our home in London because he was busy, but I phoned to tell him the good news. His family came round that day. Hearing everyone so excited when I phoned them was amazing. My family were over the moon and so were his.' Her parents are delighted to have their daughter home for a few days and are keeping a close eye on her in her expectant state.

'When I arrived at the airport on Sunday, my dad was like, "Let me take your case". It was great and it's lovely being at home. Everyone's looking after me. It's lovely to see my family, but I'm missing Raffaello. I'm going over to meet up with him and staying for three weeks. The hubby is being very protective. I love it.' Her family have always kept an eye out for the star and it was her father's intervention that stopped her from being bullied at secondary school.

She said: 'There was some name calling and taunting threats and on a few occasions, it would become physical. I would deliberately try to stay in at lunchtimes. One time, someone told me a group of girls were waiting for me with scissors at the end of the corridor. They were going to cut my hair off and flush my head down the toilet. I obviously didn't walk down the corridor.

My dad confronted them and said that he'd call the police.' SHE believes Bad Girls, which dealt with a range of issues, including bullying, was helpful for people going through the same thing: 'I think it's quite therapeutic to see something like bullying being tackled on television if you are going through it yourself. I think that storyline helped a lot of people.' Her next television appearance will be in ITV's Heartless, a comedy drama costarring Angus Deayton.

He plays an unfeeling divorce lawyer who, following a near-fatal heart attack, receives a transplant and becomes a nicer person in the process. He decides to locate the donor and travels to Scotland to meet the man's widow, played by Simone.

She said: 'It's hopefully coming out around Easter weekend.

It's very charming and Skye looked amazing. Angus is great. He was really committed to his character and fun to work with. He's very funny, with that dry sense of humour.' As well as Heartless, Simone stars with her husband in a short film, Call Me, which is to be shown in film festivals in California, Mexico and Miami.

She has also just finished making a film called Red Mercury, co-starring Stockard Channing and Juliet Stevenson, in which she plays a hostage.

The movie is scheduled to go to the Cannes festival, much to her delight: 'My grandmother lives in Cannes. It would be perfect. If I can go, I'll go.

It's a great film about terrorism and has an amazing cast.' Earlier this year, the home Simone and Raffaello share in London was burgled and her [pounds sterling]20,000 engagement ring - a family heirloom - was stolen, along with other treasured possessions. Simone said: 'I was terribly upset about it but at least Raffaello and I were unharmed.' BUT at least the anguish of the burglary was offset by the good news about her pregnancy.

After her break at home in Scotland, she intends to fly out to Los Angles to spend some time with her husband, but has no plans to stay Stateside.

She said: 'I couldn't believe how much of a meat market the place is, especially with all of these actors scrambling around for auditions during pilot season.' For now, the star's thoughts are firmly with her impending arrival and her new role as a mother. She says: 'We've been flicking through magazines looking at baby names. The choice is huge.

'My family are French and Scottish, my husband is Italian.

It makes the choice even more difficult, but we've got seven months to think of a name.

'I'm looking forward to when the baby arrives. All I can think about is that everything goes well. I don't mind if it's a boy or a girl, just as long as it is healthy.'

 

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