Gina McKee

At the dinner in Notting Hill (1999), Gina McKee’s Bella helps make William’s friends feel worth knowing. Anna’s presence makes the gathering awkward, but McKee, Tim McInnerny, Emma Chambers and Hugh Bonneville give it warmth enough to survive the attention paid to its famous guest. We laughed, then wanted the friends to put Anna at ease, because their kindness made the embarrassment matter. Roger Michell gives the supporting actors room to contribute something beyond commentary on the central romance. McKee is part of why the company is worth staying for.

Before Bella came Naked (1993), then the television breakthrough of Mary in Our Friends in the North (1996). Playing a character across decades gave McKee a substantial opportunity beyond the supporting parts for which she is often recognised. Croupier (1998) put her opposite Clive Owen as Marion Nell, with Mike Hodges directing.

We recommend Notting Hill despite its dawdling middle and over-explanatory music, and McKee is among the reasons. Michell sometimes indulges the ensemble’s eccentricity, but he understands that the friends need to be an attraction in themselves. The useful skill here is helping a group of actors seem like people who would meet even without a famous guest. McKee’s poise leaves room for sociability and comedy, which makes this a useful corrective to the grave roles with which she is often associated.

Later film parts include Countess Henrietta Harding in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread (2017) and Marion in My Policeman (2022), while theatre has remained part of her work. McKee has spoken about being offered similar roles involving repression or suffering. That is a limitation in the casting we would like to see challenged, rather than a reason to keep praising her for enduring things quietly. We would welcome a comedy that gives her more of the mischief.