Cool British Classic

SPOTLIGHT

kristin Scott Thomas serves up her English as if she had use of the Windsor silver. Her enunciation, like her carriage, like her name, is as toned as a T. And those cheekbones—accents acute and grave— seem to play their part in shaping her language of quick intellect and pure repose. Has anyone ever pronounced the word "condom" with the flourish of her Fiona in Four Weddings and a Funeral? Like Olivier playing the Virgin Queen.

But Scott Thomas knows when to simmer. In Angels & Insects, you don't notice her in her first scene—as Matty the governess she's in lunar eclipse, pressed into the shadows. As the English spy in Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible, she brings deep reserves to a slim role. And come November, destiny! Scott Thomas plays Katharine Clifton in the film version of the mysterious W.W. II story The English Patient, a part she says she's been "preparing for years, ever since I read the novel. I just knew that I had to do this." Author Michael Ondaatje's evocation of Katharine—"her stalking beauty, her theatre of expressions"—is a perfect fit for Kristin. It's clear she's close to the role: "Playing it was the best thing that I have done."

The pace and balance that Scott Thomas brings to the screen may be products of the two-part invention that is her life: a middle-class Brit upbringing, a Parisian marriage and home (her husband is a French obstetrician, and they have two children). Still, Scott Thomas can't remember when she didn't plan to act. And though she was hooked early on theater, film is where her heart lies. "I just love it, love it, love it when the camera is running, when you hear that little motor." Almost apologetic, she adds, "It's the best thing in the world."

LAURA JACOBS