30
l
THEPULSE
WINTER
ally amid the skulduggery of the world8217s
foremost fashion bible. So impressed were
the creators that they rewrote her part, trans-
forming Christina from a straight-talking New
Y
orker into a fully-fledged Scot. In series two
they have padded out the back-story, and a
mysterious ex-husband (played by fellow Scot
Derek Riddell) arrives on the scene around the
same episode as a certain Mrs Beckham.
The pair had worked together previously on
BBC One8217s Clocking Off and Ashley was
thrilled to have a friend both on and off set.
8220Whenever there8217s a new Brit in town, a bit of
phoning goes on. We8217re like a little British
mafia that get together and moan about the
traffic. I met Dougray Scott the other day and
I was all 8216hello, hello, I feel as if I know you8217.8221
Ashley jokes that she, like Lucy Davis and
Mackenzie Crook before her, is a prodigy of
Gervais. But she does owe a good deal to the
man without whom she might still be just
another jobbing actor. Not that getting papped
on Rodeo Drive was ever an ambition. In fact,
she eschews the LA glamour scene, preferring
to spend time with her husband, the actor
T
erence Beesley, ensconced in their million
dollar pad in the Hollywood Hills. Earlier this
year the couple tied the knot at a low-key
wedding in Big Sur, California, having met in
a production of King Lear that also starred
David Tennant eight years ago.
Does she miss Scotland? 8220I do miss it, yeah,8221
she says with a breathy sadness. 8220I feel like I
need to get home and a get a wee injection of8230
the Scottish sense of humour. Sometimes if I8217m
trying on a costume at six in the morning, with
puffy eyes and messed up hair, I8217ll go, 8216oh, I
think this dress looks absolutely beautiful on
me, especially with my hair like this8217. And
they8217ll go, [cue mock American accent]
8216yeeeeah, it does8217. And I go, 8216I8217m joking, look at
me! I look like I8217ve come out of the oven too
early. I look like s***!82178221
Ashley studied performing arts at Queen
Margaret8217s, Edinburgh, graduating in 1989
alongside Kevin McKidd, of Trainspotting and
Rome fame. Those three years as a student
she remembers as 8216the best I ever had8217, but she
quickly corrects this to 8216that I could have had
at the time8217, perhaps fearing what her husband
might make of such a remark. With three
coursemates 8211 two unnamed guys and now
lifelong friend Alison 8211 she shared a flat in
Morningside and the quartet enjoyed many a
8220rowdy8221 night in their local, the Canny Man8217s.
8220There was just something really homely
about it. We used to have this wonderful smell
of hops that would drift across Morningside,
and every time I smell it now, I always think of
Edinburgh.8221 But it wasn8217t all fun and games.
T
wice a day there was a two-bus schlep to the
old Queen Margaret8217s campus in Corstor-
phine, resulting in morning sprints down
Princes Street 8220because we were always so
late8221. But being light of foot was a tomboy tal-
ent she8217d perfected growing up. One of her ear-
liest memories of Edinburgh was representing
her school at Meadowbank in the Scottish
athletics championships. But sport soon lost
out to acting and she eventually gave it up
because the rest of the team were all boys.
Af
ter Queen Margaret8217s, she and Alison,
just turned 21, moved to Glasgow. 8220We were
like little crutches to one another when we
started out because we were both at the bot-
tom. She started at the BBC working for noth-
ing as a floor assistant and I went off to the Cit-
izen8217s Theatre to play Betty Parris in The
Crucible. I looked young, so I was cheaper than
paying for a child plus a chaperone.8221 Ashley
then joined the touring theatre company 7:84
that travelled 8220like a band of merry players8221
to rough housing estates and village halls in
the North-East of Scotland 8211 8220It was a great8220Playing King Lear on the
living room floor, I think
that me and my mum did
turn tragedy into comedy8221ROLE PLAYING
F
rom
top, Ashley8217s student
watering hole, the
Canny Man8217s; alongside
Extras8217 Ricky Gervais;
flying the fashion flag at
Dressed to Kilt; top
right, in Ugly Betty,
and, below, on the red
carpet at this year8217s
Emmys. Inset,
triumphant at the
British Comedy AwardsMain: Jason O8217Dell. Extras picture
courtesy of BBC. Ugly Betty picture
courtesy of Channel 410152P30_Pulse_Nov_ 13/11/07 12:02
pm Page 30
Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32Page 33Page 34Page 35Page 36Page 37Page 38Page 39Page 40Page 41Page 42Page 43Page 44Page 45Page 46Page 47Page 48Page 49Page 50Page 51Page 52Page 53Page 54Page 55Page 56Page 57Page 58Page 59Page 60Page 61Page 62Page 63Page 64Page 65Page 66Page 67Page 68Page 69Page 70Page 71Page 72Page 73Page 74Page 75Page 76Page 77Page 78Page 79Page 80Page 81Page 82Page 83Page 84 Produced by PageSuite