The Late Anthony Minghella's Last Leading Lady, Jill Scott, Remembers Working With Him

Jill Scott, the star of BBC1's winning adaptation of 'The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency', has nothing but praise for its director, Anthony Minghella, who sadly died at the age of 54 earlier this week. In fact, she tells me that collaborating with the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient, The Talented Mr Ripley, Cold Mountain and Truly, Madly, Deeply was her primary reason for accepting the role in the first place.

"The thought of working with Anthony was all the incentive I needed," says the American actress, singer and poet, who plays the leading role of the wise private detective, Precious Ramotswe, in the drama, which is being screened on BBC1 at 9pm tomorrow. "One of my all-time favourite films is The Talented Mr Ripley. So I was thrilled by the prospect of collaborating with Anthony; the very idea of it took my breath away."

Scott was not disappointed when she spent several months in Botswana working with Minghella on this screen version of Alexander McCall Smith's global best-seller. "With an Oscar-winner you never know if there'll be a large amount of ego and pretence, but Anthony was such a great director," says Scott. "He was like my uncle - silly, fun, intelligent, and sensitive. He was also a huge Motown fan, so between takes we all sang the Supremes.

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