MORE THAN A GHOST 'INTERMISSION' ACTRESS SHIRLEY HENDERSON LOOKS MOANING MYRTLE-ISH TO 'POTTER' FANS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

A little woman with a big screen presence, Shirley Henderson has grown into a welcome fixture of British cinema over the past several years.

And now the 37-year-old Scottish actress is practically inescapable. She can be seen in the Irish ensemble comedy ``Intermission,'' which opened in L.A. last week. There she'll be again on Friday in the oddball triangular romance ``Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself.'' See her next month in the supernaturally tinged mystery thriller ``Close Your Eyes.'' And she'll be reprising her role, around year's end, as one of Bridget Jones' singleton gal pals in ``The Edge of Reason,'' the sequel to the comedy hit ``Bridget Jones's Diary.''

Those - and a couple of other European productions that could come our way soon - may be enough to tide over fans of Moaning Myrtle, who won't be making an appearance in this summer's Harry Potter release, ``The Prisoner of Azkaban.'' But Henderson soon starts work on the next installment of the boy wizard's saga, ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.''

It says volumes about the actress's formidable resources that she can convincingly segue from a romantically traumatized young woman in ``Intermission'' to a single mother more her own age in ``Wilbur'' to Myrtle, the ghost of a preteen girl who haunts the Hogwarts magic academy. Obviously her big, expressive eyes, peachy complexion and petite frame help her earn roles on the younger end of the spectrum. But Henderson's not about to rub that in anybody's face.

``You are getting older, and if you look closely you can tell I'm aging,'' says the plain-speaking, vanity-deficient actress. ``But if you're right for something, and they cast you against the right person, it doesn't matter if you're 10 years out or five years out.''

Hairy roles

Don't let her modesty - and her preference for playing mousy lost souls on screen - fool you, though. Henderson is a model of can-do confidence in a profession awash in low self-esteem.

``I think that the fact that she is so centered and secure as a person allows her to play broken people,'' observes ``Intermission'' director John Crowley. ``Shirley's not actually needing to look good in the work that she does - she's not scared of looking bad. That's the sign of a curious actor, someone who's willing to stretch themselves and isn't watching their own constituency - and for whom, basically, acting isn't ego massage; she doesn't need to be told by the world, 'You're great.' ''

As ``Intermission's'' Sally, Henderson certainly suppresses image-consciousness. The character was quite horribly, if hilariously, dumped by her last boyfriend, and everybody knows the sordid, unsanitary details. In response, Sally has holed up in her mother's home. Rather unusually, though, she's let herself go in a unique way: by growing a mustache.

``If it wasn't a makeup job, would it worry ya?'' Henderson says, giggling, in response to a reporter's delicately worded question. ``It was just a wee bit of makeup. I mean, every girl's got soft hair there. I don't know what it was they put there every day. But it was no big deal, it's like putting on eye shadow. It's just in a place that everybody stares at. And I quite enjoyed the thought that I can't see this, but I know I've got this. It's just such fun to work with.''

``Wilbur's'' Alice seems an even more sullen, depressed character. She goes zombielike, and none-too-efficiently, through her paces, cleaning up operating rooms at a Glasgow hospital. Her life changes quite interestingly when a bookstore owner falls in love with her, then his suicidal brother does the same.

``I think Alice is more lost,'' Henderson notes. ``Sally is just retreating. It's getting on her nerves, people discussing her and deciding who she is and what she's not doing. It's too much; she just wants to go to her bed and be left in peace - and, in a slight way, to wallow in her misery, as you do when you've been hurt that bad. And she's humiliated, because everybody knows what happened.

``But I like that Alice is almost in another world from everybody else to begin with. She's very quiet and doesn't say very much, but inside there are a lot of things going on that just need the right person to tap into. She opens up a bit in this, becomes a woman and has real feelings.''

Such blossoming is a Henderson specialty, one informed by personal experience. Raised in the small village of Kincardine, near Edinburgh in central Scotland (where she still makes her home), she began singing in public as a child. It was just a hobby, but it eventually led to London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, then a stint with Britain's National Theatre.

Early film work included small bits in the likes of ``Trainspotting'' and ``Rob Roy.'' She first gained wide notice as an alcoholic actress in Mike Leigh's Gilbert & Sullivan biopic ``Topsy Turvy,'' then went on to perfect her mouse-that-learns-to-roar (or at least be heard) persona in ``Wonderland,'' ``24 Hour Party People'' and ``Once Upon a Time in the Midlands.''

Positively chameleonic

``Shirley is very disciplined, intelligent, sensitive and modest,'' confirms Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig (``Italian for Beginners''), who directed Henderson in ``Wilbur.'' ``I have so many good things to say about her. And I think she can color characters more than what's in the script. I mean, she can change so much that she actually gets fan mail from 13-year-old boys who believe that she's 11 in 'Harry Potter.' ''

Well, that certainly sounds ... creepy.

``I got a lot of mail for Myrtle,'' Henderson explains. ``But nobody really fancies Myrtle. They always say, 'You look like my sister,' or something like that. But a lot of people write to me thinking I'm that young, and they always say, 'Good luck, whatever you do in the future.' ''

Which, to some actresses, might be much more devastating than mash notes from pubescent boys. But, as mentioned earlier, Henderson has little time for such insecurity. Of course, to be a good actress, she can't entirely ignore such feelings, either.

``Obviously, there are times in everybody's life when you're unsure and questioning,'' she admits. ``I don't have a set path or a set plan, I just let life happen. I try to enjoy today, but you can't always. It's in our natures to be curious and think, well, I'm not doing as good as I might be. But I try not to worry about what the next job will be or how the film is going to go. I just try to relax; you don't know what tomorrow brings.

``But it's nothing to do with confidence. It's just something to play with. And I'm not overly confident in life. I just try to get on with my lot, day to day. You've got to.''

Henderson says her idea of a good time is staying at home with her non-show-biz boyfriend of many years, reading or sitting on the steps with her pet rabbit. Even though her profile in Britain could hardly be higher, the celebrity lifestyle is, predictably, something the practical Scot doesn't feel a need for.

That, or perhaps it is one of the few things in life that truly unsettles her.

``I don't feel I'm peculiar,'' she says of her unstarlike ways. ``Of course, there's a glamorous side to it, but it makes me nervous, being seen in magazines and all. I think you can do it in your own way, which is kind of trusting that your way of being and your way of dressing is comfortable enough for you.

``I just go off and do my own thing. How can you possibly live films all the time? It would drive me insane.''

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

This face, which has launched a couple dozen wide-ranging performances, belongs to Shirley Henderson, who dons a dark mustache for her role as a jilted lover in ``Intermission''

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer