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Jane Asher

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The 60 Second Interview

Flame-haired ‘Lady Jane’ Asher has had more peaks than the Himalayas – first as a child actor, then as Paul McCartney’s girlfriend (pre-Linda), later as a confectionary queen and more recently as a novelist, columnist, actress and businesswoman. Add to this her work as president of the National Autistic Society and you’re faced with a formidable public persona.

You’ve got a kind of Julie Andrews Mark II reputation. Are you practically perfect?

Of course not. I’m like most people – very ordinary, untidy and always very late for everything. I find it extraordinary how images stick. You get used to reading so much rubbish that you don’t take it in anyway seriously. I laugh about this Jane Asher that I read about. It’s not me.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever read about yourself?

I once read I was anorexic, which made me fall off my chair in hysterics because I eat like a horse.

Thirty years on, have you managed to shrug off the Beatle’s girlfriend tag?

I only have to re-live it when I get reminded of it by people such as you.

Fair enough, but did you feel robbed of your privacy?

I never talk about that time because I always keep my personal life private, which is why I’ve had a happy marriage of 30 years (to political satirist Gerald Scarfe). Inevitably you get accused of being obstructive and holding back your emotions but I have friends I talk to about my private life, not the press where it might be misinterpreted.

Is there a role you’re just itching to do?

When I was little, I wanted to do all the Shakespearean heroines, but as I’ve aged, the work I’ve most enjoyed doing is new plays – and luckily, I’ve managed to do many. I still think new plays, by living authors, where you can be sure you’re conveying exactly what they were trying to achieve in a character is the most fantastic feeling. Creating a character that has never existed before.

Which characters do you most enjoy?

It’s funny you say I’ve got this Julie Andrews image. Ironically, in the theatre, I always tend to be cast in this manipulative, cold, scheming mould – which I absolutely love.

Could it be there’s an inner Jane Asher bitch?

Maybe that’s why I keep it so well hidden, because it gets a little outing on stage every now and again.

Who has been your most exhilarating leading man?

Oh, I don’t know. Michael Caine was such a long time ago I can barely remember it. He was very charming, very funny. But I think the most charismatic lead was Rupert Sewell because he hadn’t really done much before. We’d interviewed lots of young men for this particular part and he was streets ahead of them all. I remember we all just thought ‘He is going to be huge’ and he was. It makes you feel really proud when you see him doing so well.

And where does confectionery fit into all of this?

If you told me twenty years ago that I’d be running a cake shop, I wouldn’t have believed you. It started as a hobby and a friend of mine persuaded me to write a book about my cakes because they were unusual. Much to my surprise it became a best-seller. But I do think the show-biz part of me feeds into it. If I’ve spent hours in the kitchen, I don’t want a tepid reaction, I want a wow! So my cakes are ornate, rude and funny.

Rude? So it’s not all polite petit-fours?

Oh no. Sex and cakes had never really co-existed before, but why not? One particular favourite was a commission from a very bold lady for her 40th birthday: A nude of herself reclining as a statue, near lifesize.

And what was the most elaborate?

A 6ft high cake of the Albert Memorial, perfect in every detail, commissioned by English Heritage for the launch of the appeal to restore the memorial. It was cut by Prince Charles, then we had to patch it up and keep it for five or six years when the Queen re-cut it. Thank God we didn’t poison anyone.

Of all your professional achievements, which is your proudest?

It sounds dreadfully corny but it would have to be my work with the National Autistic Society. When I first heard of autism I didn’t know what it was and now, 15 years down the line, it’s a real thrill to be able to give more than just money. I hope that I can use whatever notoriety I might have to make a smidgen of a difference before leaving the planet.

Interview from Metro 15th Jan 2002

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BOOKMARKS OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS

Interview with Jane Asher

Author/s:
Issue: July, 2001

It's actress, cake baker and writer...

Jane Asher

Jane Asher is forever associated with the Swinging Sixties, mainly thanks to her relationship with u young Paul McCartney. These days she focuses on writing novels and taking cure of her online business - Jane Asher Party Cakes. She is married to cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.

Do you use the Net at home?

I have ADSL from BT Openworld and it obviously makes the Net even better than it was. Gerald is a bit of a technophobe, but it's wonderful for sending his drawings overseas for publication in The New Yorker and other magazines.

Who designed your site?

A wonderful guy called Ray Danks of Filray (www.filray.co.uk). He's very good at curbing any instinct I might have to be too clever, constantly reminding me that speed of download on the average computer is essential.

Your Web site offers a bewildering array of cakes...

On the site itself we show about 600 or so cakes, about 100 of which are available to buy online. We've had many peculiar commissions. Most recently we had a three dimensional human heart (plenty of blood included) reproduced in icing for a heart surgeon!

SO WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WEB SITES?

Intel Philanthropic P2P program www.intel.com/cure

It uses your PC to carry out cancer research all the time the computer is switched on - without having any perceptible effect on your browsing.

Google.com

www.google.com

For being the most efficient search engine I've found so far and for not being cluttered with ads.

The Tate

www.tate.org.uk You can search through 25,000 beautiful pictures.

New Scientist

www.newscientist.co.uk

I subscribe to the magazine, but there are often back issues I want to look at again and they also have an interesting daily news service.