The Stage

Chit chat - Name check

Published Monday 3 December 2007 at 12:35 by Tabard

As well as being beautiful and talented, it appears that stage and screen actress Kelly Reilly is remarkably grounded and modest.

Speaking to The Grauniad this week about her forthcoming appearance in Othello at the Donmar, she insists that she is really perfectly happy not to be a household name like Ewan McGregor, alongside whom she is starring.

The paper, a little dismissively perhaps, describes her as a “relative nobody from Chessington”. It’s alright though because Kelly, bless her, explains that she “wouldn’t have it any other way” and declares (when asked whether she wants to become a star) “Naaah. That’s not it for me. It’s understanding the characters I play that motivates me”.

Which, frankly, is rather fortunate. You see, had she been at all concerned with name recognition, she might have been a little disappointed by the fact that The Grauniad’s front page (on its masthead in a rather large blue typeface) refers to her as Kate Reilly, claiming “A new star is born in the West End”. Which to Tabard seems a bit of a contradiction in terms, if you don’t even know their name… Still we’re sure Kate, sorry Kelly, doesn’t mind.