Bewitching Angelica

Success came to her in the form of Richard Condon's mafia inspired book, Prizzi's Honour. 'I was doing a part for John Foreman in a film called Ice Pirates, which was a B Movie about...Ice Pirates!' Foreman, who had been the producer on one of Huston senior's films, The Man Who Would Be King, approached Anjelica and asked what she thought of the part of mafia spinster, Maerose. Anjelica fell in love with the character, but the real challenge was in persuading her father to direct it, and Jack Nicholson to take the lead role of Charley Partana.

'We had to get Jack and my Dad together, and my father was down in Mexico watching the Olympics on TV, while Jack was famously entrenched on Mulholland Drive' which was later nicknamed 'Bad Boy Drive' following the antics of its wild Hollywood residents, including - alongside Nicholson - Warren Beatty and Marlon Brando. While Foreman was insistent that she encourage the two to get together, Angelica was adamant, saying 'I'm not getting between those guys - in the Mexican Jungle? You've got to be kidding!' Eventually Nicholson made his own way to Mexico, where, according to Angelica he 'sat in front of the girl gymnasts with my father for half an hour and said 'great, I'll do it!''

Angelica enjoyed making Prizzi's Honour far more than she had her first film, mainly for the research. 'I went to church, Jack went to gaming parlours, and we all ate lots of Italian food and hung out with gangsters, it was great!' And it paid off. Angelica won the best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Maerose, which she describes as 'a huge moment, an out-of-body experience'. She says 'it was like total vindication for the struggle and the critics who had said that I was plain, unattractive and untalented from A Walk with Love and Death'.

Angelica Huston's Oscar now takes pride of place in her office, and she looks back on the night with mixed emotions. 'The thing about the Oscars is it's never just 'bravo, I've won!' she explains. 'It's a) 'what am I going to wear?' b) 'what if I get called up and have to say something?' then you hope and pray you're not going to be called up.' But Angelica - who has also been nominated for academy awards for her work in Enemies, a Love Story and The Grifters - also knows what it's like not to win. 'Everyone takes your picture on your way in - it's all 'Angelica! Angelica!'' she says. 'And then you lose, and no one takes your picture on the way out!' she laughs. 'So it's an evening of many different levels.'

Huston's latest movie, These Foolish Things, is set in the 1930s and sees her playing a sharp-talking no-nonsense American darling, with both the passion and wealth to help a young theatre group produce their play. The film won't set box office figures on fire, but features a cast of young Brit actors, including Zoe Tapper (Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky) and Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually, Teachers), plus some older hands notably Terence Stamp and Lauren Bacall.

Huston clearly enjoyed working with her old friend whom she describes 'can look like a little bird, but at the same time, she can terrify people.' She says 'that's what makes her a great actress; she is capable of going through all facets.' On Stamp she is equally complimentary. 'He is an extremely surprising actor; his delivery is brilliant and dry, and his wit is great'.

The future for Huston seems busy. Plans are afoot for her to work with director Wes Anderson, whom she worked with on The Royal Tenebaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. She is also planning to direct three movies of her own over the next year. At 54, it seems Angelica Huston has one foot firmly planted in a colourful past, with fascinating stories that could provide hours of entertainment. Yet she also has an eternally youthful quality that allows her to appreciate new levels of creativity, keeping her firmly routed in the future and allowing her to continue striding through Hollywood, with or without her broomstick in tow.

These Foolish Things is out now