Robin Wright Penn talks to Lisa Williams about why it’s finally her turn in the spotlight

I’ve been talking to Robin Wright Penn for ten minutes and she’s already slipped into an English accent three times.

We’re in Edinburgh where she is promoting her latest film ‘The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee’ and on the first two occasions I assume she’s putting it on for comic effect. On the third, I can’t help but point these moments of received pronunciation and she looks startled.

“I know,” the 43-year-old says. “It’s because when I’m around English people I feel like I have to speak like this because I hate my accent. I feel very American around you guys.”

She starts making a whining sound and adds: “That’s what I sound like to myself when I’m around you.”

Robin’s father is English so she had a head start with the accent and the California-based actress admits that - after putting on her costume - adopting another accent helps her get into character.

“Clothing is so important to me when finding a character. It changes your walk, the way you hold your arms, the way you sit: it’s maybe the most important thing. Of course, if you have an accent that’s even better.”

In her title role as Pippa Lee, a 50-year-old woman heading for a mental breakdown after moving to a retirement village with her older husband, Robin didn’t have to feign an accent. But her clothes, she says, were instrumental in getting herself into the prim and proper role.

Given starched beige trousers and plain blouses, her on-screen wardrobe really helped her get into the part.

“It was genius picking those very conservative, wardrobe pieces for me, and the curl in the hair aged me too.

In the film, Pippa has an affair with her friend’s son, played by Keanu Reeves, who rescues her from her troubled past and the suburban drudgery she ends up living in.

Pitched to movie audiences as an age-gap relationship film, in real life Keanu is actually a year older than Robin. She admits that kissing him on set wasn’t strange, because of the on-screen chemistry.

“He was so perfect for it. I feel like we were blessed to have him do it, because it didn’t feel strange. The dynamic was already there. To me, that’s chemical,” she says. “We needed Pippa to be seen and he’s the first person that actually sees her for who she is. It’s beautiful as it’s like she’s then set free, allowed to blossom,” she adds.

Robin admits that now her children, daughter Dylan, 18, and son Hopper, 16, have grown up, she feels able to fulfil her potential in much the same way. “The kids are grown - one’s off to university - so I’m a free bird,” she says.

The actress, who is married to Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn, is aware that having children put her out of the spotlight. Riding high from playing love interest Jenny in ‘Forrest Gump’, Robin was offered big roles in ‘Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves’ and ‘The Firm’, but turned them down so she could raise her children.

“I’ve no regret about it,” says Robin. “When I had my kids I always knew that was the priority, and career always came second. I did it very willingly and happily and loved it - loved raising my kids.”

“But, you raise your kids - they’re 16 and 18 now - so I’m like ‘Go!’,” she adds.

With recent roles in films such as blockbuster ‘State Of Play’ and her forthcoming lead role as Pippa Lee, Robin says she was relieved to come back to a successful career.

“There’s a bit of a resurgence happening, a bit of a rebirthing,” she says, admitting that she may be being offered these roles precisely because she’s been out of the spotlight and safe from typecasting.

Now she wants to continue taking on challenging roles and has already agreed to work again with The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee’s writer and director Rebecca Miller, who she describes as “an original”.

She would even like to do some travelling, and is prepared to rough it.

Whether she’ll include husband Sean in those plans is not known. The couple have had a rocky year, with him filing for divorce then retracting the petition immediately. He has since pulled out of two film projects in order to spend more time at home.

“Thank God somebody’s staying with the kids,” is her only response - said in jest - to the news. But one thing is for sure, Robin will not play the victim. In fact, Robin seems stronger than ever and says she’s ready to take on the world.