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Jennifer Ellison stars in The Cottage
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Former glamour model and West End starlet Jennifer Ellison is hitting the big screen in horror comedy The Cottage, released March 14.

The actress talks to Kate Whiting about taking on her first lead role as the daughter of a mob boss, working alongside Gollum actor Andy Serkis and the joys of filming on location in the British countryside.

"Me mam, me dad and me nan saw it last night. I was rather worried because of all the swear words, but they loved it."

Jennifer Ellison is speaking about her second ever movie outing as a hostage in The Cottage - and she had reason to worry about her family's reaction to the film.

But it's not just her character's fruity vocabulary which might have disturbed her innocent grandma in the comedy horror.

"No, they loved the film, thought it was great," she says breezily.
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Liverpudlian Jennifer has just come to the end of a nationwide tour promoting the film and is being chivvied onto a train when we speak.

Landing her first lead female film role, after a smaller part in 2004's The Phantom Of The Opera, is clearly a big deal for the former Brookside starlet, but she's taking it all in her stride, insisting she wasn't nervous about the project.

"Not really, because everyone made me feel so welcome and at ease, it was just a pleasure," the 24-year-old said.

Jen plays Tracey, the daughter of a wealthy nightclub owner, who is kidnapped by two brothers (Andy Serkis - famous for playing Gollom - and The League of Gentleman's Reece Shearsmith) and taken to a remote cottage in the middle of nowhere.

But if the kidnappers thought tracksuit and Ugg-boot clad Tracey would be the model hostage, they were wrong.

"She's the ultimate bitch," explains Jennifer. "She's very nasty and just awful to be around. I'd hate to be in her company but she's a great character to play. She's got some great one-liners, but I don't think many people will like her!"

As Tracey is bundled from the boot of a car, into the cottage and upstairs to a bedroom, she puts up a good fight and even manages to break one of the kidnapper's noses.

But Jennifer says she needed no training for the scrap. "It actually came naturally which was rather worrying because my mum said she didn't know I could punch like that," she laughs.

The film is a tale of two halves. Feisty Tracey manages to overcome Peter (Shearsmith) - the weaker of the two brothers - and forces him out of the cottage at knifepoint, before leading him through a wood to a secluded farmhouse.

And that's where things turn really nasty, as the pair come face-to-face with a disfigured farmer, who has a penchant for chopping up trespassers.

Writer and director Paul Andrew Williams approached Jennifer about the role two years ago, but it wasn't until last spring they finally got to make the film.

"As soon as I read the script, I just fell in love with Tracey. I was hoping the film would come off because I just loved the part so much.

She's such a strong character and obviously, to be playing the female lead in a film is great for me as well."

At this point Jennifer collapses into a fit of giggles, gasping "the director's come in... Sorry! Get off!" as she play fights him.

It's clear the cast and crew have all bonded over the course of making the film - which was shot entirely on location in Yorkshire and the Isle Of Man between March and May last year.

"It was great, we were like one big family," she said of the shoots.

"I don't think I've ever worked with a director who's so chilled out.

But he still gets the work done. He really inspires everyone and really lifts everyone.

"Although there was such a tight time schedule it didn't feel like it because he made everyone feel so at ease. He's obviously brilliant at what he does."

Paul, whose previous film, London To Brighton, garnered much critical acclaim, said Jennifer "blew him away" when she read for the part of Tracey, so the feeling's obviously mutual.

Jennifer also heaps praise on her co-stars Andy Serkis and Reece Shearsmith.

"It was such a pleasure to work with both of them, they were fab," she said. "It was hard work, we were working really long hours, which was difficult but actually really fun and that was due to the people around us."

The Cottage takes place entirely under cover of darkness, so filming started at 8pm and would go on until 5am in the morning.

After starring in the West End production of Chicago and again on tour last year, you'd think Jennifer would be used to such gruelling schedules, but apparently not.

"It was really tiring," she admits. "We kind of had sleep deprivation, which would send people delirious and it was freezing, absolutely freezing.

"I was the only person who wasn't wearing a jacket so it was very, very, very, very challenging!"

But don't worry, when she wasn't needed on set, Jennifer kept her former glamour model body warm with "five jackets, hot water bottles and stuff."

"I literally got woken up at one point and sat by a fire, by a little heater. Reece and I fell asleep and then woke up to come on, ready for you on set'. It was really difficult!"

The prosthetics team had their work cut out on The Cottage to create realistic injuries, from the farmer's machine-mangled face to a pick-axed leg, guts spilling from a stomach and several severed heads.

And Jennifer loved every minute of watching them at work.

"We just had to stand there and get it all done to us. But it was very interesting," she said.

"I'd never done anything like this before. Seeing how it all works and how things come together and how they make it happen was just fascinating."

Even if her nan didn't have to hide behind her fingers, was Jennifer scared by the effects on the big screen?

"We know how it's all done, we know how it's all filmed, all the little tricks and things, so I just thought it was funny rather than upsetting," she says.

And it hasn't put her off hiring a holiday cottage.

"It's a script, it's make believe, so it's all cool... I love the countryside and I love nature and stuff. I've got two dogs, so I try to get out walking as much as I can".

While she declines discussing future projects, there are rumours of musical and film offers and as The Cottage hits cinemas on March 14, there will definitely be a buzz around Jennifer again.