The power of words | 2 April 2011

Tom Conti tells Mary Wakefield how to get inside a woman’s mind

I watched Shirley Valentine again last night. It’s different when you’re older. At 14 it’s impossible to imagine that any sane woman would talk to a wall — or put up with that dour, demanding husband for so many years. When you’re 35, well, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched, does it? Tom Conti (as Costas, the love interest) looks better, too, this time round — more attractive. When you’re a teen, you’ve no idea how rare it is to find a middle-aged man who looks good in jeans. As the credits scrolled up over sundown in Mykonos, I was full of an unsettled longing for retsina, self-actualisation and holiday romance.

I can feel the echoes of that longing now, 24 hours later, as I watch Tom Conti disappear into his kitchen to make me a cup of tea. Two decades after Shirley, with 13 more films under his belt, countless plays and a stint as a TV detective, he still cuts a dash in denim.