City of Angles

Surrounded by posters of British bands, including Coldplay and Travis, visiting actress Anna Friel gives the transatlantic take on Southern California: Until recently, her countrymen loved to loathe Los Angeles, depicting it with stereotypes such as “cultural wasteland,” she says.

But lately, the city has become a coveted destination for Brits.

“There’s been an English exodus to Los Angeles,” she says, as she browses through CDs at Melrose Music on a recent afternoon.

At the counter, a guy in a black 1998 World Cup T-shirt arranges and rearranges comics, pretending not to notice the tiny actress in the back of the store, there to promote the summer movie “Me Without You,” which charts the friendship of two girls over three decades. She stars as Marina.

Picking up a Depeche Mode disc, Friel points out that even those morose New Wave Brits have made the leap West.

In fact, she has spent the last couple of weeks hanging out with members of the band in Santa Barbara, where songwriter Martin Gore lives.

“The city has found its own,” she says. “The culture and style here is unique.”

As she leaves the store to get coffee at a nearby cafe, Friel ponders the similarities between Melrose Avenue and Portobello Road in Notting Hill, London, and, as if on cue, a couple of British friends stop by to say hello.

“A lot more people have learned to love L.A.,” she says, adding that two dozen friends have already made the move. “There’s no need to go back.... You could live the same life here as in London.”

Racking Up the Frequent Flier Miles

Last week, Jeremy Northam, also held forth on geography. In this case, an actor’s itinerary. “Since January, I’ve been from London to New York, back to London, back to Toronto, back to London, to Berlin, back to London, grabbed a short holiday, back to London, came out for three weeks here, back to London for a week, and then back here,” he says.

The outdoor patio at the Four Seasons hotel is a fitting setting for a guy in transit, and Northam pauses, while lighting his third cigarette. “I haven’t acted in nine months,” he says with mock panic. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like. I’ve forgotten how to do it.”

Northam racked up the air miles promoting “Gosford Park,” in which he played matinee idol Ivor Novello. Now, he is doing publicity for “Enigma,” a World War II movie that opened last week. In the movie, produced by “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels and Mick Jagger, Northam is Wigram, a sardonic secret-service agent who is part of the group of scientists and academics trying to crack the German code Enigma.

Despite the whirlwind publicity tour, Northam isn’t the object of too much stargazing on American streets, he says. The line he hears most is: “‘I didn’t recognize you. You look much younger in the movie,’” he cracks. “It’s always good for the ego.”

Mayor Mingles With Wax Figures

In one corner of the enormous shopping mall, well-dressed professionals, uniformed Catholic schoolchildren and the mayor of Los Angeles, James K. Hahn, buzz around an exhibit of Madame Tussaud celebrities made of wax.

Hours earlier, Hahn had released his $4.81-billion annual budget without ruffling any feathers. (The budget essentially maintains the status quo.) So he had time to leave his downtown office and venture to the Westside for an appearance in conjunction with the A&E; Network television show “Biography.” (The network is celebrating the show’s 15th anniversary with a multimedia exhibit of the personalities it has profiled, and Friday was the traveling exhibit’s launch.)

After weaving through throngs of autograph-seeking schoolchildren, Hahn takes the Westside Pavilion stage, thanks the event sponsors (too numerous to name here) and lauds Los Angeles as “the greatest city in the world.” The crowd cheers. Behind him, several television screens flash photos of Leonardo da Vinci and Frank Zappa.

Hahn honors several “community heroes” with awards from “Biography.” Among them: Olympic speed skater and gold medal winner Derek Parra, cancer research fund-raiser Lilly Tartikoff and the members of El Camino High School’s academic decathlon team.

Afterward, the crowd leaves Hahn and moves toward the wax figures that line one wall. Albert Einstein stands between Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Secretary of State Colin Powell is positioned next to George Washington. Powell and Einstein look remarkably authentic. “It’s very creepy,” says a woman in a red A&E; shirt. “You should have seen it when they brought them in. You know, the head is transported separate from the body.”

Nearby, one student poses with Powell’s figure. Then he points to the petite blond figure of a pop star in a sequined leotard and fishnets. “Now get one of me with Madonna,” he says to a chaperone. The nun refuses. Another visitor comments on Madonna’s lack of authenticity. “We do get a lot of complaints about her,” says Madame Tussaud’s New York general manager, Danielle Terry. The problem, she says, is that Madonna hasn’t posed in person for sculptors. “We have approached her,” Terry says. “We’re just waiting for a response.”

At the other end of the exhibit, Hahn, one of the few live celebrities at the event, checks his watch. “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to go,” he tells a group of schoolchildren. A moment later, he’s heading back downtown.

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City of Angles runs Tuesday through Friday. E-mail angles@latimes.com.