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Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley chat to Bella about the Ab Fab film
J
ennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are back with a bang as champagneglugging fashionistas Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone hit the big screen. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is the comedy duo’s first hurrah together on the silver screen and it’s jam-packed with A-listers, darling! The story follows PR diva
Edina (played by Jen) and outrageous magazine editor Patsy (Joanna) as they accidentally kill Kate Moss. And as the pair flee to the French Riviera, a whole host of calamities unfold. When Bella meets the iconic pair at a swanky London hotel, it feels as though we’re walking into a scene from the movie ourselves! Joanna, 70, is
‘perched on a window sill, cigarette in hand, while Jen, 57, relaxes on the sofa with her whippet Olive (who has its own Twitter account)…
Hi ladies! Are you glad the movie is finally here? Jennifer: Yes, I suppose so. I hope the fans enjoy it! And Dawn French of course, she was instrumental. She liked
the idea I’d lose money. [Dawn bet Jen £100,000 she wouldn’t write the film by the end of 2015].
Are you going to force her to pay out? God no! I’m not going to call it in!
There are so many cameos in the film. Which is your favourite? Joanna: Cameo is the wrong word, but Jon Hamm, how can Jon Hamm be a cameo? It wasn’t too bad having to rough him up a bit! Jennifer just thought it would be great to have Jon Hamm and people of that stature. He’s a kind of giant. Funnily enough, the giants are the first to say yes.
Did they work for free – just for the kudos of being in it? Jennifer: I don’t agree with
From left: Gwendoline Christie, Jennifer, Abbey Clancy and Joanna
Bella
‘Tough’ Kate
people working for free. Bruno Tonioli always wanted to be in it. He would rugby tackle me and say: ‘I have to be in it.’ So we had to put him in. He was the only person who insisted, apart from Rebel Wilson. She was fantastic. I’d met her at an awards do, where she said she’d like to be in
How did you manage to get Kate Moss in the River Thames?! Joanna: Because she’s a model and models do tough stuff!
Jennifer: She said she was treated a lot better than she would have been if it had been a modelling shoot! Honestly, photographers are ruthless.
Why are Eddie and Patsy so popular? Jennifer: You get up in the morning and think: ‘I’m too fat’ or ‘I’m too thin’ or ‘I can’t do this.’ Then you end up thinking: ‘I’ll have a drink.’ I’m sure most women go through that. You think: ‘I don’t know what to wear tonight. Oh, I’ll have a drink,’ and it’s fine.
Do you worry about your looks? Jennifer: Always. You must be super-weird to get up and think ‘I’m fabulous’ every day. Joanna: Patsy thinks she’s fabulous every day. Jennifer: She’s blind. Joanna: Patsy is pickled. She has no internal organs and she doesn’t eat so she can’t be poisoned! And what isn’t drunk is smoked like an old kipper, so she’s kippered!
Have you ever stolen any of your costumes? Jennifer: Very few. I mean Eddie doesn’t wear anything you’d ever want to wear. Her clothes are always too small. Joanna: I’ve got one or two Betty Jackson things. We adore Betty’s clothes.
In the film, Eddie isn’t allowed to wear Stella McCartney’s designs. Why? Jennifer: Stella is such a fantastic British brand and so good. It’s entirely unsuitable
for Edina. She would just look awful in it, so Stella has rebelled and Edina is banned from wearing her clothes. I love that! And I love that Stella is so game, and she is in it quite a lot.
Were there any brands that wanted you to use their clothes? Jennifer: Stella! She was really p***ed off we didn’t wear her clothes in the film, but we’ll wear her clothes for the publicity stuff. It is gorgeous. Vivienne Westwood made all Eddie’s clothes – two sizes too small, which is tragic.
Are your lives glamorous in real-life? Jennifer: Hardly. I mean it’s only those publicity moments that you’re required to go to. We have to go to so many things, and you haven’t got the time to go out. The closest we will ever get to being Patsy and Eddie is promoting the film. Joanna: We’ve got premieres in New York, Sydney, London and Melbourne with all the junkets, TV shows and chat shows to go with it, and that has to be done. They have to be organised in a way that we, Jennifer and Joanna, would be useless at. Jennifer: Someone says: ‘Here are some outfits, now listen. Photograph them, press them and wear them properly!’ Otherwise, we’d be in jeans or wearing the same thing.
Joanna, you recently turned 70. How does it feel? Joanna: I thought I was 80, so 70 is a bit of let-down [laughs]. It feels fantastic!
How did you celebrate? Joanna: I don’t really have parties. When I was at boarding school my birthday was always in term time and when you’re working you don’t say: ‘By the way, it’s my birthday today.’ But my husband Stevie threw me a party at home. We didn’t have a cake or Happy Birthday or anything. Just friends coming round. Not dancing all night, we’re too old for that! l Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is in cinemas on 1 July
Words: Lynn Carratt. Photos: Allstar/Fox Searchlight, Landmark Media
Joanna: ‘Patsy is pickled and has no internal organs’
it. She’s an enormous star now, which is good for us!
bellamagazine.co.uk Bella
Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley chat to Bella about the Ab Fab film
J
ennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are back with a bang as champagneglugging fashionistas Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone hit the big screen. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is the comedy duo’s first hurrah together on the silver screen and it’s jam-packed with A-listers, darling! The story follows PR diva
Edina (played by Jen) and outrageous magazine editor Patsy (Joanna) as they accidentally kill Kate Moss. And as the pair flee to the French Riviera, a whole host of calamities unfold. When Bella meets the iconic pair at a swanky London hotel, it feels as though we’re walking into a scene from the movie ourselves! Joanna, 70, is
‘perched on a window sill, cigarette in hand, while Jen, 57, relaxes on the sofa with her whippet Olive (who has its own Twitter account)…
Hi ladies! Are you glad the movie is finally here? Jennifer: Yes, I suppose so. I hope the fans enjoy it! And Dawn French of course, she was instrumental. She liked
the idea I’d lose money. [Dawn bet Jen £100,000 she wouldn’t write the film by the end of 2015].
Are you going to force her to pay out? God no! I’m not going to call it in!
There are so many cameos in the film. Which is your favourite? Joanna: Cameo is the wrong word, but Jon Hamm, how can Jon Hamm be a cameo? It wasn’t too bad having to rough him up a bit! Jennifer just thought it would be great to have Jon Hamm and people of that stature. He’s a kind of giant. Funnily enough, the giants are the first to say yes.
Did they work for free – just for the kudos of being in it? Jennifer: I don’t agree with
From left: Gwendoline Christie, Jennifer, Abbey Clancy and Joanna
Bella
‘Tough’ Kate
people working for free. Bruno Tonioli always wanted to be in it. He would rugby tackle me and say: ‘I have to be in it.’ So we had to put him in. He was the only person who insisted, apart from Rebel Wilson. She was fantastic. I’d met her at an awards do, where she said she’d like to be in
How did you manage to get Kate Moss in the River Thames?! Joanna: Because she’s a model and models do tough stuff!
Jennifer: She said she was treated a lot better than she would have been if it had been a modelling shoot! Honestly, photographers are ruthless.
Why are Eddie and Patsy so popular? Jennifer: You get up in the morning and think: ‘I’m too fat’ or ‘I’m too thin’ or ‘I can’t do this.’ Then you end up thinking: ‘I’ll have a drink.’ I’m sure most women go through that. You think: ‘I don’t know what to wear tonight. Oh, I’ll have a drink,’ and it’s fine.
Do you worry about your looks? Jennifer: Always. You must be super-weird to get up and think ‘I’m fabulous’ every day. Joanna: Patsy thinks she’s fabulous every day. Jennifer: She’s blind. Joanna: Patsy is pickled. She has no internal organs and she doesn’t eat so she can’t be poisoned! And what isn’t drunk is smoked like an old kipper, so she’s kippered!
Have you ever stolen any of your costumes? Jennifer: Very few. I mean Eddie doesn’t wear anything you’d ever want to wear. Her clothes are always too small. Joanna: I’ve got one or two Betty Jackson things. We adore Betty’s clothes.
In the film, Eddie isn’t allowed to wear Stella McCartney’s designs. Why? Jennifer: Stella is such a fantastic British brand and so good. It’s entirely unsuitable
for Edina. She would just look awful in it, so Stella has rebelled and Edina is banned from wearing her clothes. I love that! And I love that Stella is so game, and she is in it quite a lot.
Were there any brands that wanted you to use their clothes? Jennifer: Stella! She was really p***ed off we didn’t wear her clothes in the film, but we’ll wear her clothes for the publicity stuff. It is gorgeous. Vivienne Westwood made all Eddie’s clothes – two sizes too small, which is tragic.
Are your lives glamorous in real-life? Jennifer: Hardly. I mean it’s only those publicity moments that you’re required to go to. We have to go to so many things, and you haven’t got the time to go out. The closest we will ever get to being Patsy and Eddie is promoting the film. Joanna: We’ve got premieres in New York, Sydney, London and Melbourne with all the junkets, TV shows and chat shows to go with it, and that has to be done. They have to be organised in a way that we, Jennifer and Joanna, would be useless at. Jennifer: Someone says: ‘Here are some outfits, now listen. Photograph them, press them and wear them properly!’ Otherwise, we’d be in jeans or wearing the same thing.
Joanna, you recently turned 70. How does it feel? Joanna: I thought I was 80, so 70 is a bit of let-down [laughs]. It feels fantastic!
How did you celebrate? Joanna: I don’t really have parties. When I was at boarding school my birthday was always in term time and when you’re working you don’t say: ‘By the way, it’s my birthday today.’ But my husband Stevie threw me a party at home. We didn’t have a cake or Happy Birthday or anything. Just friends coming round. Not dancing all night, we’re too old for that! l Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is in cinemas on 1 July
Words: Lynn Carratt. Photos: Allstar/Fox Searchlight, Landmark Media
Joanna: ‘Patsy is pickled and has no internal organs’
it. She’s an enormous star now, which is good for us!
bellamagazine.co.uk Bella
