Friday 27 October, 2000
The Big Sound of Jane Horrocks
Jane Horrocks’ success as the timid singer in the award winning film Little Voice demonstrated that there is more to the squeaky voiced actress than first meets the eye. With just one song Horrocks has the ability to transport listeners back to the golden glamour of the 1940s and 50s and with the backing of the big band sound, suddenly Horrocks transforms into Monroe, Garland or Holiday.
On the release of her debut album, The Further Adventures of Little Voice, Horrocks talks to On Screen about her love for music and the importance of the diva.
When Jane Horrocks arrived on British television screens as the loveable Bubble in the comedy show Absolutely Fabulous, she was the perfect characterisation of the successful, dizzy, 90’s media PA. She was scatter brained and yet successful, brilliant and yet balmy.
As the daydreamer LV in the 1998 film Little Voice, Horrocks once again epitomised a time and place. Mimicking vocal legends she was quite literally the star of the show. However for Horrocks the bittersweet story of Little Voice meant more than Golden Globe nominations and screen success, for the story was inspired by the actress’s own ability to impersonate the divas sounds.
History of impersonation
Unlike LV, Horrocks grew up in a comfortable, working class family home in Lancashire, in the north of England. Her mother was a ward aid in a local hospital and her father a door-to-door salesman. The youngest of three children, Horrocks would sometimes feel overshadowed by her two brothers and as a means of drawing attention to herself she would sing-along to her favourite songs. Perhaps nothing unusual, but whilst friends were watching Top Of The Pops, Horrocks was listening to show tunes of Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe.
Of her ability to mimic she comments:
‘I just find it thrilling, especially when I totally lock in to the person that I am doing and I’m really flying… I suppose I am hiding myself when I sing as these other people.’
Character actress
As a successful character actress, Horrocks has no trouble adopting a new persona. On screen she has won critical acclaim as the bulimic Nicole in Mike Leigh’s Life Is Sweet, in Bring Me The Head Of Mavis Davis she successfully demonstrated how not to be a pop star and on stage she has achieved rave reviews for her performance as LV in Jim Cartwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.
In the same way that she prepares for an acting role, Horrocks conjures up a mental image of a singer before she can imitate their sound. She explains:
‘When I think of Marilyn Monroe, and achieving her sound, I think of having a rather large bust. I think of her physically and I am just able to create her sound, because her physicality was so much to do with her sound. It was such a breathy, pouty [sic], sexual thing that unless you are thinking of it, I think it is hard to create her.’
| ‘I just find it thrilling, especially when I totally lock in to the person that I am doing and I’m really flying’ | |
Voice of Horrocks
After the success of Little Voice, Horrocks received several offers from record companies, but none of the ideas put forward had tempted her to pursue a musical career. Why wasn’t she ever tempted to sing in her own voice?
‘I find singing as somebody else very liberating, it just frees me up. My own singing voice is not very good and I don’t think that anybody really sings in their own voice. Usually, certainly British singers, adopt an American accent when they sing and I think that usually people are thinking of somebody else, but I just think of very specific people.’
When record producer Laurie Gray suggested that she sang in the style of the women she most admired, Horrocks jumped at the chance. She flew to New York and backed by an 18-piece swing band, she recorded classic songs such as Hello Dolly, Crazy and That Old Black Magic. The album even includes duets with Ewan McGregor, Robbie Williams and five years after his death Dean Martin makes a guest appearance - ‘We dug him up, so to speak and used his voice’ she laughs.
Icons
With so many of the great stars that Horrocks so admires, now gone, who would she most liked to have met?
‘I don’t think that I want to meet any of the icons. I don’t think that anybody can quite live up to your expectations. I think that if you idealise someone for so long, they can only disappoint and I wouldn’t want to be disappointed by those people. I am glad that I never got a chance to meet them because they can live on in my mind and still be icons.’
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| Jane Horrocks lives with her two children and partner in a house in north London. She has jokingly nicknamed the house "Tesco Towers" in recognition that it was mostly paid for by her appearances in the British television advertisements for the supermarket chain. |
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