Polly Hampton Megan Dodds Based on Mitford's sister Diana, Polly is Lord and Lady Montdore's willful, beautiful, but emotionally detached debutante daughter who falls for the lecherous Boy Dougdale. Although actress Megan Dodds hails from California, adopting an English accent was not a problem for her. "I really enjoy doing it. Once in a while I enlist friends and put them on tape if I think they have a particular sound that's right for what I'm doing. But most of the time it's been posh. If I had to do a Liverpool accent or something I would have to work a lot harder." About the movie's characteristically English feel, Dodds remarked: "It's a fantastic story, and you can relate to these characters. We were given some tapes of Nancy Mitford talking... about her life and her sisters and her whole attitude about writing and things. Really fascinating." Trained at the prestigious Juilliard School of Drama, Dodds's film credits include Bait, Ever After, The Rat Pack, and So I Married an Axe Murderer. On the small screen, she has appeared in Midnight Caller and hosted Take Two. Her theater work includes Smash!, English Made Simple, The School For Scandal, and The Illusion. In Mitford's words: Polly Hampton Polly Hampton had beauty, and this beauty was her outstanding characteristic. She was one of those people you cannot think of except in regard to their looks which, in her case, were unvarying, independent of clothes, of age, of circumstances and even of health.... The beauty of Polly and the importance of her family are essential elements of this story. But, whereas the Hamptons can be studied in various books of reference, it is not much use turning to old Tatlers and seeing Polly.... The bones, of course, are there; hideous hats, old-fashioned poses cannot conceal them; the bones and the shape of her face are always perfection. But beauty is more, after all, than bones, for, while bones belong to death and endure after decay, beauty is a living thing; it is, in fact, skin deep, blue shadows on a white skin, hair falling like golden feathers on a white smooth forehead, embodied in the movement, in the smile and, above all, in the regard of a beautiful woman. Love in a Cold Climate, Part I, Chapter 1