http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objec...-name_page.html2 August 2006
HORROR STORYLINES HURT MORE NOW I'M A MUM
Scots star Simone had baby blues in new role as tough cop
By Derek Robins
SCOTS actress Simone Lahbib plays a tough detective in her latest TV role - but has admitted the thought of leaving her baby reduced her to tears.
Simone, 41, who starred in Monarch of the Glen and Bad Girls, will soon be back on our screens as feisty DI Alex Fielding in the grisly ITV1 thriller Wire In The Blood.
And the Stirling-born star, who gave birth to daughter Skye 10 months ago, admitted that she found some of the gruesome storylines in the four-parter, beginning in September, "quite scary".
They include the hunt for a bondage killer, a serial murderer preying on prostitutes, ritual killings involving Masonic symbolism and the torture and mutilation of women.
She said: "I didn't have nightmares but the storyline in which girls are cut and bleed to death is horrific.
"I found that awful, as I have a daughter and I think I have become extra sensitive."
Advertisement
Even just going back to work after the birth of Skye left her distraught but, luckily, she could call on mum Jean to take care of the baby, who was just three months old when she went back to work.
Simone admitted there were plenty of tears, and she even thought twice about taking the role.
She said: "The first couple of days were the most difficult. I was wondering whether I was doing the right thing as she was still breastfeeding and wasn't even on formula milk.
"My husband Raffaello was also saying, 'Should you be going back to work so soon?'
"Just before filming I went for the costume fitting and, in our wisdom, Raffaello and I decided to bring Skye. She cried hysterically.
"I was breastfeeding her while I was being fitted, and I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as I thought 'she needs me'.
"Raffaello joked that I would have to carry the baby around in scenes, and the director would just have to do head shots.
"But my mum was fantastic with the baby - she's a great influence on her. Skye was more calm with her than around her parents.
"And it was such a joy to come off the set after a scene to open my trailer door and there was my baby with her arms stretched out for me. Seeing her smiling and cuddling her was a great destresser before I had to go back to filming."
Soldier Soldier star Robson Green plays criminal psychologist Tony Hill in Wire In The Blood, and his film company produce the show.
Simone said they were great about her keeping Skye close by.
She said: "Robson's company, Coastal Productions, which makes WITB, was great - they gave me a massive trailer and sent a car to bring mum and Skye to the set and to take them home early.
"They also provided us with a fantastic house at Tynemouth, two minutes from the beach. They made working so easy, but I bet future jobs won't be that great."
The filming in Newcastle meant Simone was away from actor husband Raffaello Degruttola, whom she wed in 2003.
But the Saving Private Ryan star has had plenty projects to keep him busy. He has been in Los Angeles making the movie Devil On The Mountain, and has been filming in Romania. Simone said there is a possibility the family will spend time abroad, but only after Skye has been introduced to her roots.
She explained: "Raff could get a Green Card and he could do more work in LA. We could all go out there together for a while.
"He's been in Romania to make an action film, Second In Command, with Jean-Claude Van Damme, so things are happening for him. He also wrote a short film, Call Me, in which we played lovers. It has just won an award at the Solento film festival in Italy.
"He's also got a feature film script with a strong Italian storyline which he's developing.
"So there's a possibility of going to America for his work, but I think Skye will prob ably go to school in London.
"At the moment we're just happy to be all together and to show Skye new things - she's only tiny but we've already taken her to the zoo and the aquarium.
"There's a possible acting project in the autumn but, before that, we're taking Skye to Scotland so she can meet the rest of the family and we may go to LA if Raff has work out there."
And Simone frankly admitted she has struggled to shift her post-baby pounds and said she is suspicious of how quickly some celebrities snap back into shape.
She laughed: "I wanted to be a yummy mummy but I don't have the time to go to the gym - I don't even have time to remember to brush my hair.
"I've no idea how celebrity mums get back into shape. When I see Victoria Beckham coming out of hospital after giving birth with a flat stomach, I can't believe that she hasn't had liposuction.
"After Skye was born, there's a picture of me lying on the bed and my stomach is so big it's lying across Raffaello.
"Ten months after Skye was born I'm still waiting for the pregnancy fat to go away. Thank goodness for elasticated pants. I'm still wearing big knickers - but you look at your child and it's still worth it."
Simone, who's now a size 14, continued: "I got offered a seat on the tube a couple of weeks ago as people thought I was pregnant. I texted my friends about it and they just replied 'I hope you took the seat'."
But she thinks the extra weight has helped with the portrayal of her character, Alex Fielding, who has been drafted in to replace DCI Carol Jordan, played by Hermione Norris, who quit last year.
Simone went on: "I realised as I bounced Skye on my knee that Alex and I have some similarities as she has a son and she's a single mum who has to juggle her career with getting home on time for her son and arranging babysitters.
"Like her, I have a feisty side and I will put up a fight. Maybe that's why I play ballsy characters quite often."
Simone hopes to return for another run of Wire In The Blood next year, but she knows she will have to make alternative childcare arrangements.
She said: "The next time Skye won't just stay in the trailer, as she's already crawling around."
But for now, Simone is just enjoying having her family all in one place.
Wire in the Blood returns in September on ITV1.
'I wanted to be a yummy mummy but I don't even have time to brush my hair'