Tall and elegant, it’s easy to see her playing Desdemona or Lady Macbeth but she’s known for starring in television comedies such as Bad Education and The Wrong Mans.
More recently, she played Bridget Jones’s best friend, Miranda, in the film Bridget Jones’s Baby. Indeed, Bridget herself, Renée Zellweger, has become a good friend.
“Often when you work with actors on a film, especially big name ones, you intend to hang out afterwards because you had such a riot on set, but for whatever reason life gets in the way and you don’t meet up,” says Solemani.
“When Renée took my number and said she’d help me settle in to LA, I just thought she was being nice. So imagine my surprise when she turns up at my rented house and holds my baby while I unpack. We go to the movies or for a cup of turmeric tea (yes, that’s a thing here). She is honestly the nicest, sweetest, most talented person. She’s just shot a film about Judy Garland and I’m so excited to see it, I think she’ll win another Oscar for it.”
The Solemani family have adapted to the Californian way of life. “You do have to drive everywhere, but I passed my test relatively recently so I really love driving around,” she says.
“Sometimes you miss popping out for a pint of milk and the paper. I miss the Sunday papers and M&S.
“But it’s so beautiful here, mountains and ocean and lemon trees. It’s very laid back and chilled. Socialising doesn’t have the punctuality rules we do. If someone has a barbecue that starts at one, people stroll in at four, which makes it much easier with kids.”
In the UK the family led an active Jewish life as members of the New London Synagogue. On the West Coast, the shul-goer is presented with more exotic choices.
“There are so many different communities in LA; Korean, Persian, Armenian, Mexican to name a few, and Jewish life reflects that,” she says. “There are all kinds of Jews here. Hippy Jews, frum Jews, Persian Jews, Hollywood Jews — that’s a denomination in itself. There’s even a shul that performs musical numbers at the service on a theatre stage.
“We’ve been moving around a lot and have dipped in to all kinds of communities and are looking forward to settling into an area. Everyone has been so welcoming and kind, though, and made room for us at their Seder table.”
Solemani studied at Cambridge and became vice-president of the then male-dominated Footlights drama group. Her big break came in 2010 with the BBC Three sitcom Him & Her, written by her Footlights contemporary, Stefan Golaszewski. It ran for four series, and won Solemani a Royal Television Society award for best comedy actress.
As a writer her credits include The Conversation for BBC One’s one-off drama series The Secrets in 2014. She adapted Jo Bloom’s book, Ridley Road, which looks at the rise of the far right in Britain in the 1960s and the response from the Jewish community. The BBC have bought the rights and she’s hoping it will go into production soon.
Barry, shown in the UK on Sky Atlantic, has been nominated for an Emmy and a second series has already been commissioned. Working on it, Solemani has had to adapt to a different style of writing.
“Writing in a Hollywood writers’ room is very different to writing in the UK. It’s definitely more competitive, more highly charged. Perhaps because we have more of a theatrical tradition in the UK. Americans are very confident in expressing themselves, they are astonishingly articulate with their thoughts and feelings. It was intense at times — once we had finished writing an episode, the whole room would go through it line by line, with the rest of the group suggesting more clever or more funny lines. Not just me, everyone went through it. It could be painful, but it paid off. I’m a much better writer for the experience.”
On the acting front, she is about to shoot the movie How to Build A Girl, based on Caitlin Moran’s book, with Beanie Feldstein and Paddy Considine.
“I’m a huge fan of Caitlin so it’s been a real privilege to bring her book to the big screen,” says Solemani.
An online profile describes her as “actress, writer and activist”, the latter because she is not shy of standing up for what she believes in. She has spoken out about her experience of sexual harassment in the film industry, describing in particular one encounter with a director when she was 19.
At the premier of Bridget Jones’s Baby, Solemani now famously paraded on the red carpet holding a placard bearing the words “Budget The Baby” to raise the issue of the need for more provision and consideration on film sets for working mums.
“Yes, the response to my Budget the Baby stunt took my breath away,” she says. “I was asked to make a speech about it in Hollywood to a room of women filmmakers, and they asked to use the slogan in their campaign. I was, like, ‘Totally, it’s yours!’ My friend Charlotte Riley, the actress, has been doing great work getting nursery buses [mobile nurseries] trialled on sets in the UK, and we are doing the same in the US.”
It’s an issue obviously close to Solemani’s heart as a working mum of a toddler and new-born baby. She says: “I write, I act, I look after my children. I am active in politics, and I still like getting out and meeting new people. If you want a full, dynamic life you have to go for it. The reason I get to do so much is because of my husband. He always encourages me to push myself and take challenging jobs, and reassures me that the family can cope without me, and not to worry.
“He properly co-parents, shoulders the burden, practically and emotionally. He recruits and manages childcare. I think if he didn’t, my life would be very different. I would probably let the Jewish mother guilt takeover and I’d never leave my kids. So I really do have him to thank for the life and work I get to do. Behind every successful woman is a man remembering to defrost the chicken for tomorrow’s dinner!”
Politically she’s a Labour supporter but like so many Jews is concerned about the rise of antisemitism within the party.
“Controversy over antisemitism is heartbreaking for all Labour supporters,” she says. “Labour is losing seats in Jewish communities who are either voting Tory or not at all. We are living in a critical time: far right is on the rise, and liberal democracy as we know it is under immense strain. It would be a big mistake for Jewish people to lose their voice in mainstream politics, so I’m not sure abandoning the party is a wise move. Jewish people are not just an integral part of the international Labour movement but they are its core founders. We need to fight for the movement and help the party recognise and recover from its mistakes. I would happily sit down with Jeremy Corbyn and discuss ways to improve ties with the Jewish community.”
The family come back to the UK as often as work allows. “We’re back all the time,” Solemani says. “Constantly to and fro. I am a Londoner, born and bred, it’s my city and I’ll always regard it as home. I suddenly have terrible pangs of missing places; the old Covent Garden market, Portobello, Ridley Road. I’m coming back in a few weeks to do a baby blessing for my new-born, Samuel Wilder, at New London Synagogue with Rabbi Jeremy Gordon. He gave the blessing for my daughter, Soraya, so it feels right to go back to do it with him. And I can’t wait for a hefty serving of New London fish balls, with a generous serving of chrain.”
