
142 minutes
5/24/1996
After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

Brenda Blethyn
as Cynthia Rose Purley

Marianne Jean-Baptiste
as Hortense Cumberbatch

Timothy Spall
as Maurice Purley

Phyllis Logan
as Monica Purley

Claire Rushbrook
as Roxanne Purley

Lee Ross
as Paul

Lesley Manville
as The Social Worker

Elizabeth Berrington
as Jane

Michele Austin
as Dionne

Ron Cook
as Stuart

Trevor Laird
as Hortense's Brother

Brian Bovell
as Hortense's Brother

Emma Amos
as Girl with Scar

Clare Perkins
as Hortense's Sister in Law
Elias Perkins McCook
as Hortense's Nephew
Jane Mitchell
as Senior Optician (as June Mitchell)

Janice Acquah
as Junior Optician
Keylee Jade Flanders
as Girl in Opticians (as Keeley Flanders)
Hannah Davis
as First Bride

Terence Harvey
as First Bride's Father
Kate O'Malley
as Second Bride
Joe Tucker
as Groom

Richard Syms
as Vicar

Grant Masters
as Best Man
Annie Hayes
as Mother in Family Group
Jean Ainslie
as Grandmother

Lucy Sheen
as Nurse

Frances Ruffelle
as Young Mother

Nitin Ganatra
as Potential Suitor
Metin Marlow
as Conjuror
Su Elliot
as Raunchy Woman
Amanda Crossley
as Raunchy Woman
Di Sherlock
as Raunchy Woman

David Neilson
as Man in Suit
Peter Waddington
as Man in Suit
Peter Stockbridge
as Man in Suit
Rachel Lewis
as Graduate

Paul Trussell
as Grinning Husband

Jonny Coyne
as Fiance
Denise Orita
as Uneasy Woman
Margery Withers
as Elderly Lady
Gordon Winter
as Laughing Man
Theresa Watson
as Daughter

Peter Wight
as Father in Family Group

Gary McDonald
as Boxer

Alison Steadman
as Woman with Dog

Liz Smith
as Woman with Cat
Sheila Kelley
as Fertile Mother

Angela Curran
as Little Boy's Mother

Linda Beckett
as Pin Up Housewife

Phil Davis
as Man in Suit

Wendy Nottingham
as Glum Woman

Anthony O'Donnell
as Uneasy Man

Ruth Sheen
as Laughing Woman

Mia Soteriou
as Fiancee

Stephen Churchett
as Man in Suit