How Gillian Anderson 'scruffed up' to play me on the big screen

Raynor Winn, whose two million-selling memoir has been turned into a film starring The Crown actress and Jason Isaacs, reveals how The Salt Path was a journey of escape and adventure but also a battle back to health for husband Moth

- By Adrian Monti

WHEN Raynor Winn was told Gillian Anderson would be playing her in the film adaptation of her bestselling book, she thought the actress was far too glamorous to capture her earthy spirit. But after seeing the award-winning US actress's portrayal, Raynor is now convinced, joking: "I think she scruffs up really well in playing me. She's fantastic.

X-Files legend Gillian who played Margaret Thatcher in The Crown joins Jason Isaacs as Raynor's husband, Moth, after being cast in The Salt Path, the movie adaptation of Raynor's smash hit memoir.

It's the life-affirming true story of a 50-something couple who are left homeless and penniless days before Moth is diagnosed with a rare, terminal disease.

Their response was to embark on a 630-mile walk along the length of the South West Coast Path. Camping in the wild with all their possessions on their backs, they survived on £48 a week - sometimes much less - eating mostly instant noodles while washing their few clothes in seawater.

But their deep love for each other kept them going through horrendous storms and stifling heat. Snaking along the often craggy coastlines of Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall, they enjoyed memorable experiences and encountered a stream of colourful characters.

As the miles slipped by, they marvelled at the nature all around them from seals to swallows and shoals of shimmering fish to fallow deer.

"I was in the garden when I was called and told Gillian would be playing me in the film," says Raynor. "I wondered how she was going to portray me in my most raw moments, wearing a pair of cut-off leggings and my hair like a bird's nest. She's so gorgeous and I most certainly was not.

"But when I saw her on the set, I thought, 'No, she's perfect' because she had captured that sense of being lost in life so well.