Two things stand out immediately about British actress, filmmaker and rising star Alice Lowe that make her an unusual subject in the rarefied but often pretentious world of celebrity interviewing.

The first is the venue - a pleasant but utterly run-of-the-mill early 20th century bungalow she has rented to receive journalists in suburban Los Angeles - and the second is that she is breast-feeding.

"We could have gone to a restaurant but I didn't want to be somewhere where I'm like 'stay in your pram and don't fall into the waiter,'" she says, cradling infant daughter Della, who was bawling but has suddenly adopted the blessed out expression of a yogi.