Patsy goes to work

Patsy Kensit doesn't warm to new recruits

By BBC News Online's Rebecca Thomas

Few female roles could seem less appealing than the one actress Patsy Kensit took in the new British movie Janice Beard: 45 WPM.

Kensit plays the petulant office bitch Julia Woolfe who - as head of an all-female typing pool - makes life hell for naive temp Janice Beard.

Julia can't stand feeling like she's not queen of the roost. As the film wears on I begin to look madder and madder

Patsy Kensit

"Julia is successful, she's good at her job but she has to be surrounded by these girls and be better than them," explains Kensit.

"Julia would never really like anyone that really liked her. That's the thing - she's rotten."

But despite her nasty character, 32-year-old Kensit - who has featured in movies Absolute Beginners and Lethal Weapon II - says making Janice Beard was a valuable, eye-opening venture.

"I've been an actress all my life, so I've no experience of this type of workplace," she says.

"It was really nerve-racking walking into the room full of these girls and trying to fit in."

The movie is a romantic comedy set in the top secret intrigue-filled world of car manufacturing.

New ground

Fanciful temp Janice Beard, with her over-imaginative approach to the truth, enters the company as it works towards the launch of a new model.

Janice Beard (Eileen Walsh) has a perculiar charm

Her bizarre personality, and fashion sense, at first shock the routine world of the secretarial pool. But her well-meaning eccentricity eventually wins over her workmates.

All except prima donna Julia who, as Kensit explains, feels threatened by Janice's unconscious charm.

"Julia can't stand feeling like she's not queen of the roost. As the film wears on I begin to look madder and madder," affirms Kensit.

But if the movie broke new ground for Kensit, it proved a greater challenge for others involved.

Eileen Walsh, who took the part of Janice, was a rookie actress. Director Clare Kilner had also never made a feature film before.

On top of that, Janice Beard is one of those rare pieces of entertainment focusing almost entirely on women. However, Rhys Ifans - Spike in Notting Hill - puts in a notable performance as the conniving post boy Sean.

The rest of the staff warm to Janice's charm

Kilner says the idea for Janice Beard came from her own experiences of temping while saving to be a film-maker.

"Temping is very strange experience because you are just plonked into a world where everyone knows what they are doing except you.

"But you are able to observe people from a completely anonymous position and I realised there was a screenplay unravelling before my eyes."

Eccentric spirit

Not so obvious was casting the part of Janice, once Kilner came to make the movie in association with FilmFour.

I crashed into the room, really sweaty in a huge anorak and lied badly to all their questions. I was amazed to get a recall

Eileen Walsh

By then, Kilner realised that the quirky personality and face of Janice were so etched on her mind that finding anyone to play her would prove a struggle.

Newcomer Eileen Walsh however solved the problem - simply by walking through the casting room door.

"She was warm, funny and intelligent and made the character of Janice fly," says Kilner, adding: "She added so much and found the spirit of Janice and I couldn't be more delighted."

For Walsh - who hadn't even read the script before the audition - winning the role was a complete shock.

"I crashed into the room, really sweaty in a huge anorak and lied badly to all their questions. I was amazed to get a recall. But I do have to own up to being like Janice - although I think I am more aware of my faults."

Janice (and Walsh) broke down barriers on and off set

On set, Walsh says she found working with Kensit particularly daunting.

"I stayed away from her at first because I was so nervous. In fact we were both wary of each other for quite a while.

"But when we finally broke the ice she was very open. It made doing a big emotional scene together so good."

Despite the movie's odd "girlie" moments, director Kilner is adamant it should not be dismissed by the male audience.

"Women have grown-up having to relate to male leads not the other way around," says Kilner.

"But when a film or book presents the opposite scenario, men seem incapable of grasping the story.

Anarchic element Sean (Rhys Ifans) examines his conscience

"They should give these works a chance and try to see the humour and entertainment value before branding them 'feminist'."

Kilner has at least one male supporter in Rhys Ifans.

Ifans - who has also appeared in Rancid Aluminium and the comedy Kerry and Perry Go Large - believes Janice Beard deserves careful attention.

He explains: "It was a joy to work on the film surrounded by women and it was a real lesson.

"I came close to knowing and understanding just how often a woman's role is merely functional - what it is to be seen as totty and how people treat you."

Janice Beard: 45 WPM goes on general UK release from 5 May.