Half Of 'Hilary And Jackie'

Emily Watson stars in the movie Hilary and Jackie. As CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen reports, it's not about Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Kennedy, but about Hilary and Jacqueline du Pré, who shared a passion and a gift for music.

Watson plays Jackie, a cellist whose musical career outpaced that of her sister (played by Rachel Griffiths), a gifted flutist. But Jackie's career was cut short by multiple sclerosis, and she died in her early 40s. The story is based on the memoir A Genius in the Family, written by Hilary du Pré and her brother, Piers.

"I actually played cello for about six months when I was 14 - very, very badly," says Watson, 32. For the movie, she recalls, "I had three months to learn about 15 pieces."

She practiced in a rehearsal hall near Wigmore Hall, where professional musicians came to warm up their Chopin before their concerts.

"And they all came past [my] door, thinking, 'Who is in there murdering Diego?' That was quite funny," Watson recalls.

You may remember the actress from her role in Breaking the Waves, for which she received an Oscar nomination in 1996. (She lost the trophy to Frances McDormand, who won for Fargo.) But it was still an impressive honor; Breaking the Waves was Watson's first feature film.

"That was a lot of fun, actually," says Watson. "You know, you can't take it too seriously, especially with a film like that. It was a tiny little film that nobody knew anything about, and it really went the distanceÂ… We had a ball. You know, we went to Hollywood. We met all the film stars. It was a lot of fun."

Watson also was nominated this year for a Golden Globe for her performance in Hilary and Jackie, but the award went instead to Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth.

Don't feel sorry for Watson, though. Her trophy room must be well stocked with honors that came her way with Breaking the Waves, including the New York Film Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics New Generation Award, and the National Society of Film Critics Award.

Watson, who is married to Jack Walter, an actor, is set to play the role of Angela in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel Angela's Ashes.