More about Happy-Go-Lucky
For Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky is Not Just an Act
By Sam Adams
Los Angeles Times
Excerpt, At the Movies
October 9, 2008
AS POPPY, the fluttering, free-spirited elementary school teacher at the heart of director Mike Leigh's new film, "Happy-Go-Lucky," British actress Sally Hawkins glows like a miniature sun, radiating an infectious sense of joy and a ravenous hunger for life.
But as Hawkins has recently learned, unchecked eagerness can be a dangerous thing. While shooting a romantic comedy over the summer, Hawkins thought she'd have a go at doing her own minor stunts; the result was that she arrived at the recent Toronto International Film Festival with a broken clavicle and her right arm in a sling.
"I was in high heels and a wedding dress, and I was on somebody's back at the time, and I had to propel myself through the air," she says with a laugh. "I was a bit Buster Keaton-esque, and slightly enthusiastic."
There's nothing slight about the enthusiasm Hawkins brings to her character in "Happy-Go-Lucky," which opens in theaters on Friday. Poppy approaches each new experience with childlike alertness and an almost pathologically upbeat nature. When she discovers her bicycle has been stolen, she reacts not with shock or anger, but a kind of wistful disappointment. "I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye," she sighs...
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