Redgrave plays Churchill's wife in HBO show

LONDON -- Vanessa Redgrave manages to get the words "human rights" into her first response even though the question is just a conversation opener: What was it like playing Winston Churchill's wife, Clementine?

"I don't see it as talking about Clemmie," Redgrave says of "The Gathering Storm" (7 p.m. Saturday on HBO). "I see it as talking about this particular period, certainly the defining period for all human rights legislation."

The movie depicts the couple's combative yet affectionate and supportive relationship during the years leading up to World War II when Churchill (played by Albert Finney) was out of power but vigorous in his stance against the looming Nazi threat.

"The Gathering Storm," shot on British locations that included the Churchill's home, Chartwell, was written by Hugh Whitemore and directed by Richard Loncraine. The cast includes Derek Jacobi, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Wilkinson and the latest supporting actor Oscar winner, Jim Broadbent.

Despite her reputation for dedicated activism, Redgrave is no one-note woman.

People may still remember that she was booed when she won her supporting actress Oscar for 1977's "Julia" after saying the voters had refused to be intimidated "by a small band of Zionist hoodlums." In 1998, she participated in a U.N. confab on human rights, and more recently she led a candlelight vigil for those who have died in the Middle East.

An eclectic mix

Her serious beliefs are woven into the fabric of her emotions, ideas and speech, but there's still room for some laughs and skittishly friendly chit-chat. The adjective "wonderful" is in constant use as her memories skip and float across more than a 40-year career.

The West London flat she shares with her 91-year-old mother, actress Lady Rachel Kempson, is an eclectic mix of timeworn beauty.

In the utterly unostentatious living room, the casual hodgepodge of family photos and portraits catch the eye more readily than the acting trophy or two tucked way on a shelf or table.

She has acted with younger sister Lynn; her father, the late Michael Redgrave; and her daughter, Natasha Richardson. And she appeared with her mother in the 1968 film, "The Charge of the Light Brigade."

A handsomely etched 65, the actress presents herself unadorned -- hair pulled back, blue eyes steady, more penetrating than penetrable, hands and mouth mobile to the needs of a smoking habit, for which she apologizes.

"Clemmie never smoked," she says, coughing up a laugh as she describes the difficulty of having to refrain while acting opposite "Albie puffing on a cigar all the time in the most wonderful way."

Acted together before

Redgrave and Finney have enjoyed some connection for four decades-plus. They first worked together as Helena and Lysander in a stage production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," starring Charles Laughton as Bottom.

Finney's 1963 movie "Tom Jones" was directed by Redgrave's late husband, Tony Richardson. In 1974, Redgrave and Finney co-starred in "Murder on the Orient Express." And there's talk of a possible sequel to "The Gathering Storm," depicting the years when Churchill was prime minister during World War II.

Churchill called himself "Mr. Pug" in the letters he wrote to his wife, whom he referred to as "Mrs. Pussycat."

The couple, even when at home together, wrote to each other almost every day. Redgrave found "Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills" -- edited by their youngest daughter, Mary Soames -- to be an invaluable help.

The actress met with Soames, too.

"She explained to me the lady from the inner point of view, which is extremely important," said Redgrave.