ABOUT ANNA

The woman in seven acts

Anna Drijver is a writer, voice-over, and of course an actress. Since November 14, a new role has been added; that of mother. “When I look at Lea like this, I could easily add two more babies next to her.”

Anna the mother

“I had an extremely easy pregnancy. There was really nothing I struggled with. No nausea, no pain in my pelvis, not even mood swings. Everything just went incredibly well. The delivery was, of course, a chapter on its own. I had a contraction app where you had to rate each contraction on a scale from 1, not painful, to 10, very painful. I rated a contraction an 8 while it should have only been a 3 at that stage. You have to write a birth plan in advance (everyone has to, not because I'm such a control freak haha) where you indicate what you do and do not want. As far as you can know, of course. I thought Benja might just stand by without a concrete task, but I really appreciated that he encouraged me. ‘It can be a bit harder,’ I said at one point, so Benja was there shouting and cheering as if he were at a football match. Benja caught the baby (we didn't know what it would be at that time). That seemed like a beautiful thought to me. That the first thing you feel when you come to earth is your father's hands.”

“I refuse to fall prey to the guilt trip; I just keep working. Without feeling guilty about it.”

Anna on the guilt trip

“About four weeks after the delivery, I had to go to a sound studio to record something. Suddenly, I realized that I hadn't thought about Lea for a moment. I was so happy about that. I was afraid I would never be able to concentrate again because my attention would always be on her. But that wasn't the case. I could still work. I would have been fine if I hadn't been ready yet, but I was just sitting next to Benja in the morning, drinking my cappuccino and reading the Volkskrant. With Lea next to us, in her Tripp Trapp chair and with her crinkly book. There are people whose universe revolves around their child; Lea is part of our life.‘

Anna on beauty

“I'm not so focused on being beautiful, more on being content.
Although I am very happy that I got my body back so quickly after the pregnancy. I don't diet, the idea, during breastfeeding. I can really enjoy good food, but I'm also not the type to shove a bag of chips down on the couch. I try to take good care of my body and skin; I love nice creams and find exercising enjoyable. For myself and for my mind. But I won't use botox. I play real people; I don't play uptight types.”

“I'm not so focused on being beautiful, more on being content.”

Anna the partner

“Because of my role as a mistress in ‘Komt een vrouw bij de dokter’, suddenly all kinds of men in the pub wanted to take a picture with me. ‘Just to make my girlfriend jealous,’ they would say. I didn't understand that at all. I'm very proper in love; I've never had a relationship with a married man. During the filming of ‘Komt een vrouw’, Barry and I played the most steamy sex scenes while I was actually just starting to date a guy. Between takes, I would check my messages; ‘Hey Barry, he wants to have a drink with me tonight!’ For his birthday, I organized a surprise weekend. I had worked a lot and thought: I don't care, I'll book two tickets to Nice. And a nice hotel. Then he said he had to 'finish something' that weekend and I had to take someone else to the hotel. I asked all my friends who might be able to come. Including Benja. In the end, I went with a pregnant friend, but from that moment on, the seed was planted with Benja. Anna and him. In a hotel. In Nice. He could imagine that."

Anna the style icon’

"I love feminine, classic, and tough. That's why I really love the watches from IWC Schaffhausen. Nowadays, you don't really need a watch to know what time it is. So the watch you wear might as well be a beautiful piece of jewelry. I'm quite a gadget freak. I was recently at the IWC Da Vinci launch during the Salon de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, and I was really up close to the displays. I find it very special to see how they can incorporate the technology of a calendar that can go 500 years ahead and immediately account for the moon phase in such a watch. I am one of the many ambassadors of IWC who is invited to a gala dinner. Just like Louis Hamilton and Vanessa Redgrave! I love good pieces of clothing that don't necessarily have to be very special but just fit well. For example, I bought a rather expensive black pair of shorts from Filippa K. 'What's so special about that?' you might think. But it's just the perfect black pair of shorts. I love looking beautiful and feminine, and I'm lucky that it doesn't easily become vulgar for me. Short and revealing, Dolce and Gabbana, Hervé Leger; it has to be very extravagant for me not to be able to handle it. By the way, I'm glad to have professionals like Sonny (Groo, MM), my stylist, because I always have just a bit too little patience for that kind of thing. Thinking about which belt completes the dress, sitting for hours at the hairdresser... Those are the things I cut back on first."

“I thought it was time to drop the facade of ‘Everything is going so well’”

“Anna the actress and writer‘

"I would find it terrible if I could never act again. But not writing is not an option. A few days ago, I watched the viewing of the rough cut of 'Weg van jou', a film for which I edited the script, and I really had to hold back from laughing too hard at my own jokes. I love diving completely into such a writing project, working towards a deadline, submitting everything, and then being done. Usually, I then sit quietly and happily staring into space. That I get to do this. This year we are going to perform 'Borgen' again. A heavy piece because I am on stage for nine hours. You really connect with something. Also with the audience, because they are sitting there for nine hours as well. Last year, I performed it until I was seven months pregnant. I cried so much when it was over. I was so proud. Also of the baby. That we had done that together."

“Anna the open-hearted‘

"In Volkskrant Magazine, I indeed mentioned a few years ago that I had experienced a depressive period. I had thought in advance that I would say it. The journalist wasn't digging very deep and was more on the level of 'Do you really have to memorize the texts?'. But I thought it was time to drop the facade of 'Everything is going so well'. It wasn't going that well with me. He wrote it beautifully, that much is true. A few days before the magazine was to come out, I was already thinking about it. Soon everyone would know. On that Saturday, I saw the newspaper in large stacks at Albert Heijn. It really felt like a coming-out; I wanted to hide. But I only received good and kind responses. A lot of understanding from people in the industry as well. The strange thing is that I never had any issues with it again afterward. After my delivery, I was alert to it. Many women experience depression, so I had the number of my wonderful therapist on standby. But it wasn't necessary. Everything is going smoothly and well. When I look at Lea now, I think: I could easily add two more babies."

“Anna Drijver is a writer, voice-over, and of course an actress. Since November 14, a new role has been added; that of mother. ‘When I look at Lea like this...’