The Times Magazine 9British actress Jenny Agutter, 69,
got her break aged 17 in the film The
Railway Children. This July, she will
return to the role five decades on to
star in The Railway Children Return.
Since 2012, she has played Sister
Julienne in the BBC’s Call the Midwife
and has also appeared in Spooks and
The Avengers. She lives in London
with her Swedish hotelier husband.
They have one son.
You’re either Catholic or you’re
not. You either believe in the
mysteries and go to confession,
or you don’t. I was brought up
Catholic but from the age of
16 on, it just didn’t work for me.
So it has been interesting playing
somebody who is guided entirely
by their faith. Sister Julienne has
taught me a great deal about
responsibility, respect, acceptance,
tolerance, patience. At least I’m
trying to learn these things.
They wouldn’t let me punch Robert
Redford. I was fighting him in
Captain America: the Winter
Soldier but they got a stunt person
to do it. I’ve done two Marvel
films and I’d love to do another.
Most of the time, I followed
my feelings on doing things, as
opposed to making career moves.
Fame is ephemeral. It was made
clear to me from early on that you
could be hot for a period of time
and then you’re dropped like a hot
brick. I did The Railway Children,
Walkabout and I Start Counting as
a teenager. After that I went into
theatre. The public recognised
me from The Railway Children
and then they forgot me very
quickly. It came and went.
I remember my mother talking
about whether you were in
circumstances that made you
happy or not happy. And she said,
you just look at it and go, if 51 per
cent of the time I’m happy, that’s
all right. If 51 per cent of the time
I’m not happy, it’s not all right,
and then you need to change
the circumstances, whether that’s
relationships or whatever it is.
I’ve never wanted to live on the
never-never. It doesn’t appeal
to me to be owing. I want to be
ahead of the game, living fairly
conservatively and enjoying what
What I’ve learnt Jenny Agutter
INTERVIEW Ros Lewis PORTRAIT Ellis ParrinderI have. It didn’t matter that I had
a contract with MGM and I did
Logan’s Run, and that seemed to
be a big movie; I was very aware
that it can disappear. You just
suddenly aren’t working for a long
period of time. I was very careful
with the way I invested money.
I’m not always good at
communicating to people clearly
what I think and feel. That’s
why I’m an actor. I take someone
else’s words and communicate
as much as I can with those.The only real regret I have is not
recognising the importance of just
being with somebody. I’m thinking
of my mother before she died, of
the time spent just talking, just
being with them, as opposed to
trying to organise them and make
sure their life’s OK.
When I was in America, I found
myself at odds with Los Angeles
and the publicity machine. The
way one’s meant to look, the
way you should go to the awards,
the parties. I found that a struggle,because it goes against my nature.
I remember a publicist telling me
if I went with them, they could
get me an award. And I actually
thought, no, if I deserve an
award, I would get an award.
That was quite naive, because
there is a machinery there, and
the things that get the most
attention end up being rewarded
the most. nJenny Agutter is an ambassador
of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust‘I was very
careful with the
way I invested
money. I was
aware work
could disappear’