Getting to know...Hayley Mills

One-time child star Hayley tells us about the lean years of acting and cherishing her "new" Oscar...

- VICKI POWER

● It's amazing to think how long I've been acting. My father [legendary actor Sir John Mills] always talked about the element of luck in a successful acting career. I was lucky to have the opportunity to have a career that I hadn't actually sought, but was given to me, as a child. But I haven't been working steadily since I was 12. I've had peaks and valleys and lean years, when I still had two little boys [musician Crispian Mills and theatre director Jason Lawson] to bring up and send to school. But now I'm no longer a pretty little thing I'm getting character parts that give me the opportunity to play against type. I can play all kinds of gnarly individuals. It's fun!