Pollyanna McIntosh

The “unsummarizable” Pollyanna McIntosh and I discuss love, life, writing, comedy, acting, strong female roles, Prevertere, Filth and how to be kinky.

by Joanna Orland

“This is a lesson in kink today”, states the lovely Pollyanna McIntosh as we sit down over tea and limeade to discuss her acting career.

Before Pollyanna found her career path in acting, she used to work in PR where she met writer/director Brian McGuire. They became friends through work, and when McGuire made his film Carlos Spills the Beans, Pollyanna was keen to get involved and found herself with a small part in the film. When McGuire came to make Prevertere, the role of Irene naturally went to Pollyanna.

Irene is the most likeable and grounded female character in Prevertere, a film about male protagonist Templeton who is having sexual relationships with at least three women, one of whom is Irene. Their relationship seems to be the most complex of the three as they have the most honest emotional connection out of Templeton’s trysts, yet for some reason they cannot bring themselves to be together.

The film starts by equating love with having sex and examines the separation and linkage of the two. Pollyanna understands that people have different views on what makes a happy relationship, and while she can’t imagine the swinging lifestyle for herself, she acknowledges that it works for some people.  “Can you love somebody and cheat on them sexually with somebody else? Yes, it happens all the time. I don’t think that that means a relationship should end, I think that means a relationship should be examined and they should talk about the problems. I think that’s a symptom, not necessarily has to be a cause,” she says.

Pollyanna has taken on quite a few risqué film roles including the most recent in Prevertere, as well as the role of Size Queen Karen in Filth, the latest film adaptation of an Irvine Welsh novel. Filth is actually Pollyanna’s second Irvine Welsh film, having taken on the role of a stoner in the late 90’s adaptation of The Acid House.