Daily Express Saturday Magazine
(UK)

1 June 2007

Simone Lahbib loved working with bubbly Robson Green on the new series of Wire In The Blood. He made the whole studio sparkle, she tells Paula Kerr

As Wire In The Blood's tough-talking DI Alex Fielding, she unpicks murder plots and uncovers child abuse, abduction, ritual killings and serial rape. On top of that, Alex is a single mum faced with the constant challenge of working long hours while trying to look after her son. Hers is a grim, cheerless existence.
If s a world away from that of actress Simone Lahbib, who plays Alex and is happily married. Though they do share some common ground. As the mum of a 21-month-old daughter, Skye, the Scottish star also struggles with the guilt and anxieties of being a working mother. "In one episode, Alex sacks her nanny because she is jealous when her son calls the nanny 'Mum', which I can completely imagine," Simone confesses. "That's why I always ask my mum to look after my daughter when I'm working.

"When I started on this series of Wire In The Blood, Skye did cry when I left the house. I'd always get up very early with her in the morning. I'd dress her and get her ready for her day. Then I had the dilemma between whether to sneak out or to say goodbye, and chose the latter. She'd stand at the window with my mum as I left and we'd wave.

"Then she'd get upset and cry out, 'Mummy!' So I'd phone my mum and discover that just a minute later she was already fine and playing with her toys."

Based on the novels by Val McDermid, Wire In The Blood is filmed near Newcastle and co-stars Robson Green as clinical psychologist Tony Hill. Simone joined the show as Alex last year, following the departure of Hermione Norris, who played DI Carol Jordan.

"In the last series, Alex didn't understand Tony's worth," Simone explains. "Now they are equal in power and work smoothly alongside one another. I like the way their relationship develops in this series - Alex trusts him more.

"I enjoyed making the series more this year," she adds. "I worried less about how I'd cope with dividing my time between my work and my baby, and it was great to be back with such a lovely cast, especially Robson!" she beams. "I adore him. He has such energy. "There was a day when I spent hours filming in a dark interview room. I was exhausted until he appeared in the last scene and my spirits lifted. When he walks on set, the place starts fizzing up. He's the human equivalent of dropping a dissolvable aspirin into a glass of water. Actually, a few takes were ruined with my laughing. He'd joke that was another £100 I owed him [the drama is made by Robson's production company]. The storylines might be dark but we still have a laugh.

"I've learned to leave work behind and not take it home, or else it can grind you down," she adds. "We filmed a particularly emotional story, where Alex's son is kidnapped. It's great stuff for me to play as an actress, though I'm also a mother and had to take my head to that place, which was very difficult. When I went home that night, I found myself cuddling Skye very tightly."

Simone, 42, lives in north London with her 39-year-old actor husband Raffaello Degruttola, whose credits include Saving Private Ryan. The couple have been married for four years, though started dating eight years earlier.

"He's lovely," she says of Raffaello. "He's very funny, very energised and a great dad. Skye sleeps in our bed, between us, and she dotes on her daddy. Her favourite thing is pushing our heads together to make us kiss. She thinks that's hilarious. She is surprising us with new words and things she can do every day. It's a very exciting stage. She also loves posing for the camera!

"We'd love to have another child and hopefully it will happen for us. Since we've had Skye, we don't get many nights out together, but that's one of those things. It's down to the availability of my husband's mum who lives nearby and is terrific."

One of five children, Simone grew up in Stirling with her Scottish mother and French-Algerian father. As she recalls, her Mediterranean background made her a target for school bullies.

"Kids look for something different and my father is French, which singled me out," she says. "There were a lot of fights but I'm feisty and I won. I have a very determined nature."

After studying drama at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, bit parts in Dangerfield and Taggart led to an audition for Bad Girls, and she landed the high-profile role of bisexual prison governor Helen Stewart - a part she played for three years.

"I had a great time on Bad Girls and I'm still in touch with many of the girls. I spoke to Debra Stephenson [who played Shell in the show] recently and we hope to meet up soon. I'm dying to see her new baby and her son Max." Simone's next major role was as formidable farmer Isobel Anderson in Monarch Of The Glen ("good fun - Tom Baker is just nuts, very funny") and she left the series when she became pregnant with Skye. She joined the case of Wire In The Blood last year, and will begin work on another series of the thriller in the autumn. "Filming should take around five months," she says. "I recently turned down a job similar in length to Wire In The Blood, which would have meant working away from home again - but that wouldn't have been good for the family."

Instead, she's opted to make a short film with fellow Scottish actor, John Hannah. Ahead of that, however, is a well-deserved family break.

"We're off to Los Angeles for a holiday to see some friends and that means I'm being a full-time mum again," she smiles. "I love my job but nothing beats being a mum."

 

 

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