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It's
hard to forget Rula Lenska, writes Martin Borley.
She's an elegant woman with a deep voice. Good breeding seeps from
every pore. It's no surprise that she was born Rozamaria Laura Leopoldyna
Lubienska, the daughter of a Polish Count.
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| Rula
Lenska plays Krystal alongside Frank Butcher in EastEnders. |
But
this is the woman who's character had an affair with Frank Butcher
in EastEnders and who was last seen on the Royal Theatre stage grunting
and screaming her way though the mother of all orgasms in The Vagina
Monologues.
She's
now back in Northampton - at the Royal Theatre - playing Helene
Hanff in the romantic comedy 84 Charing Cross Road.
Challenges
"It is a peach of a role," she told me. "It really
is one of the most delightful roles I've ever played on stage."
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| Rula
Lenska plays Helene Hanff in 84 Charing Cross Road |
The
amount of words she's had to learn in the part has been a challenge.
But Rula Lenska likes challenges. Even appearing on stage is a challenge
for her: "The terror of the first night is extraordinary. You
can't control your hands; you're shaking and your breathing is funny.
"The fear never completely goes. I always get nervous before
going on stage. But if you trust the product and trust the rest
of the company, and as soon as a live audience reacts in a way you
want them to react, then it becomes more comfortable."
Philosophy
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| Another
challenge: Rula Lenska appears in Doctor Who back in 1984. |
Challenges
are important to Rula. How many people who're scared of flying would
become a hot air balloon pilot? But she did.
She first went ballooning as part of a charity publicity stunt,
raising money for children with leukaemia.
"I used to go weak at the knees and feel shakey. In a balloon,
of course, it's even more frightening" she said. But since
learning to fly, she's conquered her fear.
Rula has a philosophy for making the most out of your life: "One
never stops growing; one never stops learning. And the only way
one learns and grows is experience. The more tests you give yourself,
the stronger a person you come out of it."
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