"Serendipity"

Has fate played a big part in your life?

I've had funny situations happen to me a number of times. My partner and I had almost met about 25 times before we actually did meet. We'd been in the same lift together and been in the same places at the same time. We realised afterwards that we were meant for each other but we weren't quite ready before. So, I believe in more than just coincidence but I don't live my life by it like Sara does in the film.

What was it like for you to do a smaller, more intimate film after doing a huge blockbuster like "Pearl Harbor"?

It was actually a real relief to return to something slightly more familiar. Nobody shouted at me or threw things at me, it was really nice. Both films overlapped a little bit which was a bit tricky because I had to flit between New York to do "Serendipity" and LA for "Pearl Harbor".

You've had to do a lot of kissing in your films this year...

Yes, I have! They saved all the kissing scenes up at the end of "Pearl Harbor" and the "Serendipity" ones were right at the beginning, so I was literally going from one man to the next. I don't know what my daughter, Lily, thought when she kept catching me in clinches with various, different, massive men. I think she thinks that's what my job is, mainly kissing, which it probably is, actually.

Have you ever had a crush on someone that you wanted to get back in touch with, like in the film?

Well, I'm a little more rabid than my character Sara is. I probably would have hotly persued them. I never really believed in leaving it up to fate when I was a teenager because I had four brothers, and boys seem to take an awful long time for the penny to drop. You'd have to position yourself at their bus stop for about four months before they actually twigged on that you were there, so if I'd left it up to fate I wouldn't have got anywhere!

Are you planning to just make Hollywood movies now?

No, not all. It wasn't a conscious decision to make American films it just kind of happened. My boyfriend was in a play on Broadway so that's why we ended up in New York, and my auditions happened to be for American movies, which wasn't deliberate. I've only done three Hollywood films so far but I'd be just as happy to do British ones.

What was it like working with John Cusack?

I'd actually met John once before when he was over in London filming "High Fidelity" and I was hugely pregnant at the time and about 3 days overdue. But, I think he was disappointed when I turned up to do "Serendipity" because when we first met I had these giant boobs and blonde hair and then suddenly I didn't anymore! But, no, he's a great guy but we didn't spend that much time together as we don't share many scenes. We're always off running around New York looking for each other.

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