During filming, though, the cast and crew came to know each other quite well. So well, in fact, that Peter learnt a little secret about Julianne . . . "You know how she looks so calm and reserved?" he says. "The truth is, she talks non-stop all the time - before takes, after takes. You can't shut her up! It was driving poor Pierce bonkers." Peter, one of the original stars of Carla Lane's hit '80s comedy Bread, has come a long way since his humble Manchester beginnings. Since Bread, he has played numerous TV and movie roles including In the Name of the Father in 1993 and Some Mother's Son in 1996. Peter also appeared on stage in two plays by Harold Pinter, The Caretaker and Party Time. But it was in 1998, when he moved behind the camera to direct a film based on the screenplay Sliding Doors that he really hit the big time. "The BBC used to have a director's course and I applied to go on it," he remembers. "There's only about eight slots and over 600 people applied for them, so I knew it'd be hard to get on it. "Anyhow, I went off and made a little short film in my apartment to show them that I was really serious, even if I wasn't any good and didn't get in. And I spent every last penny I had on it, and managed to blag my way onto the course." Things may be working out for him now, but Peter admits there has been times when he has thought about packing it all in. "After you've knocked on every door and they've all been shut in your face, there's really nowhere else to go. But I think there's always one thing in your life that keeps you going, and Sliding Doors was it. And having decided to do something, if you then just give up it shows a huge lack of fibre as a person. "There's always an element of luck in getting any film off the ground, especially your debut. So the thing you've got to do is keep going long enough for that luck to hit, as you don't know when it will. If you give up and the luck was coming a month later, you've screwed it all up." Despite his success as a director, Peter hasn't completely left acting behind, and can often be seen playing cameo roles in his own films. "I do make the odd appearance," he says. "Usually it's because I forgot to cast the part, like in Sliding Doors. I was The Cheeky Bloke 'cos I'd totally forgotten about it till the day. Then I was a homeless man in Anti Trust. I'm keeping my hand in." * Laws of Attraction is released in the UK on May 14 | 
