Meeting of minds

New Zealanders director Jane Campion, 55, and actress Kerry Fox, 43, tell The Independent on Sunday how they both came to meet. Fox recalls: “I walked into the audition for An Angel at My Table nervous but very determined, knowing that I had to figure out what the director was looking for but also feeling overwhelmed by the other people and the camera in the room. It took a while to dawn on me that this woman with the dark-red beret, who I hadn’t seen at first, was the director. I kind of remember her now as a shadow.” And Campion: “Then this young woman came in. One of the characteristics of girls in New Zealand at that time was that they didn’t shave their legs, so like the rest of them, Kerry had lovely hairy legs. She was quite strong, ‘I’m me’ and all that ó great. She started to audition, and for the first time I saw someone real. She was this true spirit. I remember thinking ‘and you’re beautiful’.” Campion’s Bright Star is in UK cinemas now. Fox is also in Speaking in Tongues at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London WC2.