CAST

Julia Sawalha

Henry Wakefield
Richard Briers

Vernon Spatch
Mark Hadfield

Tom Newman
Nicholas Farrell

Carnforth Greville
Gerard Horan

Terry Du Bois
John Sessions

Fadge
Celia Imrie

Molly
Hetta Charnley

Nina
Julia Sawalha

Margaretta D'Arcy
Joan Collins

Nancy Crawford
Jennifer Saunders

Mortimer
Robert Hines

Tim
James D. White

Mrs. Branch
Ann Davies

Nina's Father
Edward Dewesbury

"I wanted to work with Kenneth Branagh and with this cast so I accepted the role in the film without even reading the script" says Julia Sawalha who plays the spectacularly short-sighted, eccentric but wildly romantic Nina.

Julia's career took a sudden leap up several rungs of the ladder when she was cast as the put-upon and politically correct daughter, Saffron, in Jennifer Saunders' three series of "Absolutely Fabulous." In 1993 she was voted Best Female Performer by the Royal Television Society and when Saffie was surprisingly voted the role model most admired by teenagers today, Julia's celebrity status was sealed.

Before "AbFab," Julia had worked extensively in supporting roles in television drama including episodes of "Inspector Morse" and "Casualty." She played in three series of "Second Thoughts" and also made her mark as Mercy Pecksniff in the BBC's highly acclaimed "Martin Chizzlewit" and as Lydia Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice."

She worked often in the theatre with the late Ken Hill, appearing in his productions of "Peter Pan," "The Silver Chair" and "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and also played Hermia in Rob Swinton's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."