The soul singer Jill Scott is used to belting out her feminist angst on the
stage, and now she's making it work for her on the small screen too - albeit
in more demure outfits. She stars in the BBC's film adaptation of Alexander
McCall Smith's series of bestselling books, The No1 Ladies' Detective
Agency, adapted by Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis. Minghella was so keen on Scott for the part that he flew to her native
Philadelphia last year to meet her while she was in the middle of making a
film, Why Did I Get Married?. “I knew then this was serious,” she says. “We
auditioned for five hours and it was somethin' else.” Scott, 35, plays Precious Ramotswe, who sets up Botswana's first detective
agency after an abusive marriage and the death of her father. She is in
raptures about her character, with whom she shares a wounded-woman grit.“After a woman's father dies in Africa she gets married,” Scott says. “But
this woman is bold and brave and she's not going for it. She's going to take
care of herself.” Scott, who last year divorced Lyzell Williams (her
manager) after six years of marriage, has never made a secret of her
difficult childhood. But her first lead role nearly didn't happen. While she was still auditioning,
her mother had cervical cancer diagnosed, and Scott was worried about
spending months away filming in Botswana. But the cancer miraculously
disappeared. “Not even in remission, just gone! After that, I had new
vivacity and I let Mr Minghella know that I wanted the part, and I got it.” Scott started out training to be a teacher, but dropped out at 21 to write
poetry and music. Her debut album in 2000, Who is Jill Scott?, sold more
than two million copies. Yet acting was an interest before singing - she
appeared in Rent on Broadway in 1998.“I believe you should do everything you can do because you enjoy it, and
eventually one of those things is going to hit. And then you'll be able to
do the other things that you love too.” She has always said that life is her inspiration, and she has plenty of
material. As a child she didn't know her biological father, but he later
turned out to be a family friend. She was brought up by her mother, who left
her abusive stepfather when Scott was 4. “He was a mean man. He killed my
dog,” she recalls. Can she really remember such details from when she was 4?
“I remember everything. I remember being in the womb - the flesh pink, and
the vibrations of my mother speaking.” CONTINUE READING
