Dame Emma Thompson keeps her two Oscars in her toilet to give guests “a little lift”.
Emma Thompson answered questions from Imani and Tali in the Barnado's Kidsmas appeal video
The ‘Love Actually’ star admitted to displaying her two Academy Awards - the 1992 statuette for Best Actress for ‘Howard’s End’ and the 1995 Best Adapted Screenplay trophy for ‘Sense and Sensibility’ - in her downstairs bathroom in order to let visitors live their movie star fantasies in secret.
Asked where she keeps her awards, the 62-year-old actress said: “So, I’ve got a shelf, top of my room with my telly in, so they’re all up there. I’ve got two Oscars, because you know, they’re kind of special and I feel they are a big deal, so I’ve got them in the loo downstairs.”
“And so people can go to the loo and say, ‘Oh, they’re the Oscars, so you can go to the loo and then they can stand in front of the mirror and hold the Oscar, and say, ‘I’d like to thank my mother’, and then they can put it back down again. I don’t know if anyone has done that, but at least they can have a little lift.”
Emma - whose career has seen her scoop two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and one Primetime Emmy Award - was appalled at the notion of being too obvious with bragging about her accolades so would rather keep them hidden away.
Speaking during a video interview in to raise awareness of Barnado’s Kidsmas campaign, she exclaimed: “Can you imagine what it would be like if someone came to my house and I said for the first thing, ‘Let me show you my awards!’ Wouldn’t you walk straight out?”
In the interview - which was conducted by two adorable kids, nine-year-old Imani and eight-year-old Tali - Emma gave an insight into the “extraordinary costume” she had to wear as Miss Trunchbull, the dreaded headmistress in the new movie adaption of Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda’.
She said: “It’s the most extraordinary costume because I had to wear a big fat suit and then these great big boots. [It was] a very heavy costume and then I had prosthetic pieces stuck on [my face] and pretend ears, and a pretend nose”
Afterwards, the ‘Angels in America’ actress enthused about the interviewers and their “great questions” as she praised the “incredible” work of the children’s charity.
She said: “I was delighted to meet Imani and Tali. They kept me on my feet with such great questions.
“Barnardo’s does the most incredible work supporting children right across the country and I really hope the Kidsmas campaign can help spread some festive magic for vulnerable children this Christmas.”
As part of its Kidsmas campaign Barnardo’s is asking people across the country to come together with families, friends, and communities to raise vital funds to help vulnerable children feel part of a happy, safe, and caring Christmas – and can access support all year round.
Visit www.barnardos.org.uk/kidsmas to find out more.
Tagged in Roald Dahl Greg Wise