Sophie Ward UK Actress		Articles/Text Photos Add info
Sophie left her husband in 1996 for Rena Brannan, a woman she met through friends when she was in Los Angeles. Since these two articles were published, they've married each other. 'OK!' Magazine, June 1998: "So in Love" by Tania Bryer So in love with her American girlfriend, Sophie Ward, the actress, talks about the life they are building together to old school classmate, Tania Bryer. When I tell Sophie Ward that we were at school together, at London's Queen's College, between the ages of 11 and 17, she laughs at the memory, although she doesn't remember me as well as I remember her. But then everyone remembers Sophie Ward from school because she was one of the most beautiful girls we'd ever seen. Sophie, the daughter of actor Simon Ward, would glide through the halls looking like a Botticelli angel and it was no surprise to any of us when she started modelling, incredibly successfully, and later became an actress. Now, as I enter her lovely Gloucestershire home I am greeted by the same angelic face. At 33, she still looks like a teenager. I'm here to interview Sophie and her lesbian lover, Rena Brannan. When Sophie left her veterinarian husband, Paul Hobson, to pursue her relationship with Rena, 33, it caused such a huge public scandal that when they made their first public appearance together at the Evita premiere back in December 1996, they knocked Madonna off the front pages! It was a major story as, a year before, the actress had starred in Carlton's A Village Affair, a drama about a woman who leaves her husband for another woman. Eighteen months on, Sophie and Rena look to be as much in love as ever. Sophie's children by Paul- Nathaniel, nine, and Joshua, five- live with them and attend the village school. Everything seems idyllic. But it's certainly been an extraordinary time, and I asked them about their new life together. How have your family and friends reacted to Rena? I was absolutely terrified to tell my parents and I got myself into a terrible state about it, but I knew I just had to say something. They were naturally concerned, but once they realised how unhappy I was and how difficult it was to make the decision to leave Paul and admit my feelings for Rena, they rallied around me and were very protective. It did take a lot of talking through, though. They were so kind- and so, infact, was my mother-in-law. My parents and my two sisters were all very welcoming when they first met Rena. I'd say 90% of my friends were absolutely great. But some, who I don't speak with any more, obviously felt very uncomfortable with it. Do you regret your marriage to Paul? No, no- I'd never say that. I've got my beautiful boys by him, and Paul and I had many really good years together. Of course I look back and think why didn't I understand myself better? But however difficult it's been over the last few years, and certainly Paul has been very hurt, I'd never wish it away. Paul and I are still friends and he's there for Nat and Josh. Before you married Paul did you have any doubts about your sexuaity? I certainly questioned it and the fact that I was attracted to women, but I just thought it was part of my personality. And I loved Paul and wanted children. I was only 19 when we met and he had a son, Corran, by his relationship with Amanda Royle. I was so broody- I think I deliberately put my sexuality aside and said to myself, 'I don't want to deal with it. It's a whole can of worms I don't want to think about,' and I just blocked it out. It was pretty effective for a long time- I thought I was coping. You want everything to be fine. I was so happy when I had my children- and I loved my work and Paul, who I was attracted to. But, finally, I got to a point where I couldn't go on any more and knew what I had to do. Have you changed since meeting Rena? Yes, obviously. I feel like I've jumped off a cliff and I've landed OK. But it's not always been easy. I think I've come out of it a lot stronger because I conquered all my worst fears. Rena: I think she's now more balanced and confident, trying things she probably wouldn't have a few years ago. She has gone to the edge and is being true to herself and a lot more creative. How has your relationship developed? Sophie: We've been together for about two and a half years and it's going from strength to strength. We met through friends in Los Angeles and I kept asking Rena out to the movies. At first she didn't realise why, then the attraction became obvious. We've had to work a lot of things out, like whether or not Rena was going to come and be with me here in England and, thank God, she decided to. We understand each other better now. English and American English are actually quite different languages and we needed to learn to analyse what we're saying to each other. Rena: Every day is a brand new experience- I'm still madly, deeply, terribly in love with her. I feel there is no obstacle we can't overcome. Who showed their feelings more in the beginning? Sophie: I think I was much more reserved than Rena. Rena: Are you kidding? What about when I was sitting in the bath and you looked down and said, 'I love you'? Sophie: Yes, I guess you're right- I was the first one to say how madly in love with you I was and I was the one who courted you! Did the pressure of coming out bring you close to splitting up? Sophie: No, no. We've never got to that point- we've both had our individual crises but fortunately, as in most relationships, they don't usually happen at the same time. So the other one is there to help you out of them. Immediately after we came out, Rena was the more vulnerable one. Has your career suffered as a result of this relationship? Sophie: I think the direction of some of the work I do has changed a little. I don't know, to be honest, how much my sexuality affects casting directors. I think time makes a great difference and the fact that more and more people are open about their sexuality. But I think it's really important for me not to get paranoid about whether it affects my work or not. I've just finished a film called Belladonna, set in Brazil during the Second World War. I've also been working on an American television series and, this summer, I'm performing at the Edinburgh Festival, which I'm really looking forward to. Do you think your children have been adversely affected by the publicity about the relationship? First of all, they don't read the tabloids! And fortunately no-one at their school has ever been nasty to them because of it. Their headmaster has been absolutely fantastic and it's not an issue with their friends. As they grow up and change schools, we will see if anything is difficult for them. But they seem very confident and they both communicate really well. Have your sons accepted Rena? Nat and Josh, are the most gorgeous, loving and wonderful children. We have a fantastic nanny, called Tessa, who loves them- as they do her. And they adore Rena. She is definitely a maternal figure to them- they gave us a Mother's Day card saying, 'Dear Mummy and Rena'. And they've noticed that I'm a much happier person. Shortly after Rena and I got together, Nat put his arms around her and said, 'It's so great that you're here'. Rena: Oh, Sophie, I'm going to cry now! How often does their father, Paul, see the children? He comes down qite a few weekends- his base is in London and he's got his veterinary practice there too. Paul has a role in parenting our children and I would never take that away from him. Paul and I talk a lot because there are always new issues to discuss when you have young children. And I am still very close to my stepson, Corran. In fact, he had his fifteenth birthday party here recently. Do you and Paul have any plans to divorce? We're separated and we are now divorcing because it's clearer in the long-run and I think it's the healthy thing to do. Paul's a special man and obviously he's been through a lot of pain and difficulty but luckily we are friends which is important for the children. He has his own life these days. And even though it's been extremely difficult for him, he has come to terms with the whole situation and is much more comfortable with it now. Would you and Rena ever consider going through a 'marriage' ceremony together? Sophie: Funnily enough, the boys have asked us if we're ever going to get married- they come out with these things when you least expect them! Rena and I do talk about it- but we haven't made a final decision. Rena: I've actually asked her several times but she hasn't accepted yet! Do Paul and Rena get on? Sophie: Obviously, it was difficult. But now Paul can see how happy the children are and he still sees them all the time. The fact that on Corran's birthday Paul, Corran's mother, Amanda, me and Rena will all be celebrating together shows you how far we've come. Rena: We get on fine- it's not as if we don't do things together. We actually tease each other quite a lot. Would you like to have more children? Sophie: We have talked about it but I really don't know what will happen. Having the boys already doesn't mean that I've stopped wanting more children. It is a romantic idea- having another child- and being with Rena. Rena: We're still in negotiation about it! I never felt like having a child until I met Sophie. She's absolutely infectious about it. Also Nat and Josh just love children. Sophie: In fact little Josh came up to me the other day and asked me if he could please have a baby brother or sister or an Action Man. But both Rena and I thought that the Action Man was an easier option at this point! Sophie, what is it that particularly attracts you to Rena? Sophie: She is a very kind and gentle person who is extremely giving and loving. She's incredibly interesting and a very clever woman We got to know each other over a long time which I also think helps. It was a year before anything actually happened between us. But, as I said before, when we met we were instantly attracted to each other. We are a romantic couple. Rena: Wow, Sophie! That's the most open I've ever heard you! With the interview finished, Rena quickly gets up from her chair and puts her arms around Sophie and gently kisses her. Sophie returns the affectionate gesture, and they look like any couple who are in love and can't keep their hands off each other. 'Diva' Magazine, unknown issue: "Happily Ever After" Shaking Middle England Sophie Ward doesn't look like the kind of woman who would rock the Daily Mail reading foundations of Middle England. There is nothing about her appearance, or in her intense, slightly coy, diffident manner that suggests that she could do something considered so subversive that it would dominate newspaper headlines for a fortnight or so in the run-up to Christmas in 1996. Yet Sophie Ward, now 32, is probably the most famous "out" lesbian in Britain. When, a few days after revealing that she had left her husband for the love of another woman, she turned up at the Evita premiere with the woman concerned, her notoriety was such that hardly anyone even bothered to run a photo of Madonna. "It was a Mad Time" The idea to attend the Evita premiere with her girlfriend Rena came form "someone else." She won't say who but it was widely reported to be the publicist Matthew Freud. "We thought it would be a good idea to go because it would mean there would be a photo of the two of us and people would stop camping out on my doorstep, distressing my children, and because yhere would be a photo of us, everybody would have it and it wouldn't be worth any money." Undermining Lesbophobia There are three reasons why Sophie Ward's coming out story was irresistible to the Press. The first was that a little under two years earlier she had co-starred with Kerry Fox in the adaptation of Joanna Trollope's lesbian saga A Village Affair. She played Alice Jordan, the young mother who lived in an idyllic village and was married to a nice man, but was torn between her responsibilities to her husband and children and her love for a neighbor's daughter, played by Fox. The second was that although the list of out lesbian celebrities grows by the day, Ward was at that time the only serious "leading lady" dramatic actress to come out, not just in Britain, but in the whole of the West. There are plenty of rumurs but, on the whole, they are drowned out in theatrical and film circles by a silence that is almost deafening. The third and, rightly or wrongly, most significant factor, is that she is exquisitely beautiful. The fact that she is a former Vogue model, the so-called face of the eighties, gave her coming out story a political dimension. Here was a woman who was gorgeous by anyone's standards, but still wanted to identify as a lesbian. You could almost hear the collective gasp of disbelief ricochet across Middle England. Rumors She had had "feelings for women" for as long as she could remember and was one or two lesbian affairs wiser by the time she appeared in A Village Affair. There were "coded" stories appearing in the Press - journalists who appeared to "know something," though she had no idea how, seemed overly interested in how this "happily married" hetereosexual actress coped with the nude love-making scenes she had to film with Kerry Fox. At one point, to divert their interest, she talked of how she and Paul might try for another baby. Deep down she already knew the eight-year marriage was under threat. As the gossip surrounding her grew, she was leading an increasingly separate life and, in Los Angeles, where she lives for several months a year, she had met and fallen in love with Rena, a writer. Trying to Live a Lie Ward told how she had discussed her feelings for women with Paul even before their lavish white wedding when she was 23. "Quite simply, I have always been attracted to women. It was something we had always discussed, but I hadn't done anything about it. I wasn't coerced into getting married. I loved Paul. I wanted a baby and I thought that's what people did." Despite everything, she explained, her vague sense of unhappiness grew. She discussed it with Paul and they agreed that she should explore her feelings towards women. "One early affair ended painfully but it made me realize that the feelings I was having were real. They were integral to me… in the end I felt it would be wrong trying to live a lie. I realized I was what I was and there was nothing else I could be. I'm a lesbian." The breakdown of the marriage, she stressed, was inevitable because of these feelings and could not be blamed on Rena. As she gets up to leave after the interview I ask if she's glad she came out. "Oh yes," she says, smiling wryly, "it's a huge relief. For one thing, I don't have to keep coming out to people because everybody knows, and I mean EVERYBODY."