By Holly Thomas


She first became known as an actress playing bubbly fish and chip shopkeeper on ITV comedy Fat Friends.

But Ruth Jones looked a far cry from her former self when she turned up to see One Man Two Guvnors at the Adelphi Theatre last night.

The 45-year-old was markedly slimmer in a blue wrap-around dress.

Looking trim: A slimmed-down Ruth Jones attended Richard Bean's comic play 'One Man, Two Guvnors' at the Adelphi Theatre last night


Working a sleeker haircut and smoked-out eyes, the star looked a world away from her beloved Gavin and Stacey character Vanessa.

Her nipped-in dress showed off her sleeker waist, and her face looked significantly thinner than it did even earlier this year.

Ruth came into her own this year playing comedian and Carry On star Hattie Jaques for the BBC4 film.

Ruth has revealed that she felt able to identify with Hattie as a woman whose personality had in times during her career been masked by her public image.

'She [Jacques] herself said in an interview, 'if you're fat you're funny and it's as simple as that' – so it's good, I think, to see the person behind this funny fat-woman role,' explained Ruth in an interview with The Independent.

Grateful: Ruth has said how thankful she is that there are greater opportunities for larger actors nowadays


'I read the book, which gave me quite an insight. She had quite a passionate liaison with an American officer during the war,' said Ruth.

'I suppose the public persona that she put out was not one of this sexy, passionate woman, but she was a really beautiful woman and had an incredibly interesting face and had a real warmth about her.'

It appears that Ruth has had to deal with similar issues as Hattie when living in the public eye.

She continued: 'The impression I got from the book about Hattie was that she did put up with quite a lot of prejudice about her size, but she seemed to take it with good grace.'

World of difference: Ruth looked much curvier at the beginning of the year when she played comic actress Hattie Jacques for a BBC4 biopic


'Why should she take it in good grace I don't know, but she did, so it was good to talk to someone who knew her as a person, as a friend, rather than this funny fat lady.'

'I don't want to make generalisations here, but I think that most women and maybe men are not comfortable with being overweight. It's a tricky issue,' added Ruth.

Ruth is thankful to have enjoyed more varied acting opportunities than Hattie.

Rose to fame: Ruth's first major small screen appearance was playing Kelly on ITV comedy Fat Friends


'I don't think we have quite the same over-simplified view of the world. Fat Friends explored similar subject matter,' she mused in a BBC interview.

'Nessa, from Gavin And Stacey, has fun with her size and is comfortable with it. I feel lucky that there are more roles for larger actors,'

'I don't think I've experienced the same stereotyping Hattie Jacques seemed to face in her acting roles,'



source:dailymail