Hollywood beckons for Archer the actor

Jeffrey Archer's new dream is to be a Hollywood film star, he said yesterday, 24 hours after appearing in court on charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Jeffrey Archer's new dream is to be a Hollywood film star, he said yesterday, 24 hours after appearing in court on charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Since starting his stage acting career with The Accused, his courtroom drama now showing in Windsor, Lord Archer ofWeston-super-Mare has received four film offers, three of them from Hollywood.

Though he would not go into details of what his availability might be, Lord Archer said: "My agent is dealing with four script offers. Yes, I would like to be in a film, possibly in America. I have actually already been in one. Salman Rushdie and I appeared in a cocktail party scene for the upcoming Bridget Jones movie. It took two days and I didn't speak. I now really want a speaking part. I enjoy acting intensely. And I concentrate on it fully. I am literally not thinking about anything else at the moment."

Describing himself as "a simple entertainer," he said he will act in The Accused when it opens for a 12-week run in the West End in December and then begin writing three books for HarperCollins; he will also invest in several new shows here and in America next year.

Asked if the perjury trial next year might forestall some of these plans, he gave a terse "no comment".