“I had very little direction in life. I was twenty-four. I knew I wanted to be an actress, but I couldn’t see a path. Even though I’d been accepted to a drama school in New York, I didn’t have enough money. I was living on a street in Liverpool where everything had been boarded up. I was so desperate that I decided to put a classified ad in a magazine called ‘The Private Eye.’ Oh God, I was so naïve. The advertisement said: ‘Talented young actress desperately seeks funding to go to drama school. Happy to meet.’ Every pervert in the city called me. One guy offered 30,000 pounds to ‘do whatever he wanted’ for a weekend. Another wanted ‘discipline sessions,’ which I had to Google. When I explained I wasn’t offering sex, people would shout at me on the phone. They told me that nobody would give me something for nothing. I felt stupid for even trying. After a few days the phone went quiet. Then one afternoon I got a call from a man with a very strong Irish accent. I could barely understand him. He told me that he’d never bought that magazine before. And that it all felt very strange– but he wanted to meet me for lunch. And that’s how I met Edmund. He listened to my dreams, and my goals, and at the end of the lunch, he agreed to pay for everything. Edmund has been my biggest supporter ever since. He’s helped me fund a short film. Right now he’s helping me produce a documentary. And he’s never asked for anything. Nothing, ever. He never crossed a single line. Edmund was very successful in life. And he always dreamed of having a big family. But he and his wife were never able to have their own children. So he sees me a bit like his daughter. He’s amazing.”
#quarantinestories