Maybe I should have worn one of THESE to the awards night!; EXCLUSIVE: BILL STAR JANE TALKS FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT THAT DRESS.
Byline: CAROLE MALONEIF Jane Wall ever suspected that life and success depended on a series of defining moments, she knows it now for sure.
Nineteen days ago the woman who plays WPC Di Worrell in The Bill was a moderately successful actress in a TV soap.
Today, after her near naked appearance at the National TV Awards in just a sliver of oyster-coloured chiffon, men talk about her with undisguised lust while women mutter about "that bitch in the dress".
Not since Liz Hurley's bare breasts were hidden from public gaze by just a sheath of black Versace silk and a few safety pins has there been such a fuss about a frock. And in the heady, scary, headline-filled days since, Jane Wall is still coming to terms with the fall out.
It's not that she didn't expect a reaction. She just didn't expect it to change her life. "I'm not stupid and I'm not naive," she says. "Yes, I wanted to wear a show-stopper of a dress, but never in a million years did I expect the reaction I got.
"But it would be ridiculous for any woman in my business to feign naivety. To choose a dress like that I was obviously looking to provoke a reaction. And to say that I didn't expect to get any attention is bullshit.
"No one who has grown up with a role model like Madonna - a walking, talking exercise in PR and self-publicity - could pretend to be naive about wearing a dress like that.
"Of course I knew I'd get attention and I knew some people would be bitchy. I just didn't expect the whole thing to be quite so overwhelming."
Although Wall's words are provocative and heavy duty, the woman herself is gentle, friendly and quietly spoken.
There's nothing tarty or brash about this 27-year-old whose boobs and her pounds 60 chocolate-coloured La Perla knickers became public property over night, and who many accused of manipulating the media to further her career.
On the day we meet she's barely recognisable from the sex siren of two weeks ago. Her face is bereft of make-up, she's wearing glasses and jeans and her hair is braided in cute pigtails. "The irony is that although my body has been splashed across the papers for two weeks not one person has recognised me in the street," she says laughing. "So if I was trying to make myself more famous, I've failed miserably."
Although Wall is undeniably happy about the boost to her career (on her own admission, the phone hasn't stopped ringing) she says she never meant her boobs to be laid bare before the massed ranks of paparazzi. "Lyall Hakaraia, who designed the dress, added those little curtainy things across my boobs precisely to hide them, but a gust of wind blew them up as I was walking into the Albert Hall.
"There was nothing staged or planned about it. I think people could see by my face how oblivious I was. But it's nothing new for actresses to wear revealing dresses and gets lots of publicity. It's a tried and tired formula. Marilyn Monroe was doing it 50 years ago. I suppose what's surprised me is the sheer amount of publicity this has generated. It's been unrelenting and it's why I've stopped reading about myself .
"The day after the awards I woke up, saw the papers and thought, 'Ohmigod, Ohmigod, Ohmigod'. But then I stopped reading them because I couldn't cope with the publicity.
"But the funny thing is, I look at those pictures and although I can see it's me, it's not me. It's just an image." I ask how she thinks the Sisterhood might react to an obviously intelligent woman resorting to blatant exploitation of her body to boost her career. "I don't know about the feminist argument, but I do think women today are multi-dimensional. Surely we CAN wear a fabulous dress, say, 'This is my body. This is who I am,' and still have a brain.
"I loved wearing that dress and I'm lucky because I don't have body issues. That night I just wanted to show off, and I felt like a Princess. And before you ask, no, I will never wear anything THAT revealing again.
"Not because I'm ashamed, but because it took guts to walk into Albert Hall in front of hordes of photographers. My legs were literally buckling under me I was so frightened. In fact, I was so scared I nearly chickened out of wearing the dress. In the end I asked a few friends what they thought and even the ones who thought it was pretty shocking still said, 'Go for it girl'. But I've done that now and you can tell everyone that next year I'm going to wear a Burka."
If the dress WAS a calculated publicity stunt, it was a supremely well timed one because in January next year Jane ends a three-year run on The Bill.
Although she promises her exit will be "explosive" it's not clear whether she's been axed by new boss Paul Marquess or if she's going of her own accord. What ever the truth of it, Jane insists she's leaving to pursue other roles and that she isn't the only one. "About eight of the major characters are going," she says.
But even though Wall's career is on the up with a trip to Hollywood in January to meet casting agents, her personal life is in turmoil.
A 10-year relationship with rock singer and childhood sweetheart Danny Griffiths has just ended. The official reason for the split is "work commitments" but for Wall the subject is a painful one. While she talks excitedly about her job and her ambitions, the mere mention of Danny brings her close to tears.
"He hates me talking about him," she says quietly. "We're still living in the same flat and it's hard not to still think of him as my boyfriend," she says.
Jane, the product of a Nigerian- born mum and a white dad, fell in love with Danny at the John Ruskin Comprehensive School in Croydon, South London, when she was just 16. The romance petered out when Jane went to London's Mountview Drama School, but five years later they bumped into each other again and fell head-over-heels in love.
Just a couple of years ago, Jane proposed on February 29 and the couple talked about marriage and starting a family.
"I hate talking about this because it's so hard for me," she says. "But I feel I'm going through massive change at the moment. I'm leaving my job, I'm splitting with my boyfriend, I'm buying a flat. For the first time I'm taking responsibility, becoming an adult, if you like.
"There was no big split between Danny and I. We just decided it was time for a break. Part of me believes we can maybe make it work again. I really hope so. But for now I think we both need space.
"I still feel that being in love is one of the most wonderful things in the world. And I'm not cynical about love or relationships. I still want to get married and have kids. But not yet. I don't honestly know what's going to happen to Danny and I. All I know is we're still talking, we're still friends and we still see each other.
BUT I think I need to be alone for a while. And the idea of buying my own place is exciting even though I've had to down scale my fantasy. I had this idea I was going to live in a posh house in Primrose Hill, but the reality is a small flat somewhere."
Living by herself will be a change from 18 months ago when she was staying with best friend Amanda Holden and husband Les Dennis while they were having marriage problems.
Jane, who was a bridesmaid at the couple's wedding, was on hand to comfort Amanda when her fling with Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey became public. "I was like some Jane Eyre character living in their attic," she says laughing. "But it was weird because the house was surrounded by the paparazzi for weeks.
"Looking back I'm really glad I was there for her. Amanda had a really tough time and needed someone to talk to. The funniest thing was that one day we opened the papers and saw the headline 'Diana Ross Comforts Les Dennis' and there was a picture of Les and me with 'big' hair out for a walk.
"Incredibly, Diana Ross was in London at the time and rang to say that while she had no idea who Les Dennis was, she hoped things would work out for him, but she wanted to make it clear that whoever was comforting him, it wasn't her!"
So is it tough for her to see her best friend getting all the plum TV roles? "I'm not jealous of Amanda," she says. "We're very different. I suppose if she was black and going for the same roles as me, I might be. But that's never going to happen. But fame is a funny thing. Both Amanda and me are pretty well known but we still get breathless when we see other famous people. When we met Josh Hartnett at the premiere of Pearl Harbor and went to Soho House with him neither of us could speak to him without talking gibberish." I ask if rumours are true that she and Amanda might be work together in a sit-com. "I wish," she says. "I'd love to do comedy and work with her, but it isn't true." So, has she any regrets about The Dress? "Look, I don't know if the publicity has been useful," she says. "Because I don't actually believe ALL publicity is good publicity. And no, Steven Spielberg hasn't rung to ask if I'll star alongside Samuel L. Jackson in his next movie.
"I'll just have to wait and see what happens. But in the end people mustn't forget it was JUST a dress - nothing more meaningful or life-changing than that."
Pictures: NICK BOWMAN
CAPTION(S):
JANE SAYS: SIMPLE and sophisticated, very feminine and very pretty.; 8/10; SHOW-STOPPING: Jane in her revealing dress; JANE SAYS: AN incredible show-stopper. I felt very glamorous wearing it. It's beautiful with an amazing cut.; 10/10; JANE SAYS: I LOVED the neckline of this short pink dress which is fun and frisky. It is perfect for a cocktail party rather than a big night out.; 7/10; Sequin halter neck evening dress pounds 2,550: Julien Macdonald at Linea of Hampstead (0207 794 1775). Pink cowl neck silk dress pounds 610: Moschino at Feathers (0207 589 4621). Shoes: Paola Tregemini (0207 376 3388). Blue long chiffon bias cut dress approx. pounds 1,000: Maria Grachvogel at Bodie and Gibbs (0207 259 6620). Choker Bodie and Gibbs.
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Sunday Mirror (London, England) |
| Date: | Nov 11, 2001 |
| Words: | 1822 |
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