Jennifer Saunders: ‘I’d rather be funny – it’s better than sexy!
Ageing? No problem. Marriage? It’s a compromise. Friendship? Non-stop chatting. JENNIFER SAUNDERS explains what keeps her smiling at 61
Jennifer Saunders recently found grandson Bertie, five, staring at her. ‘I asked, ‘Is there something wrong?’ Bertie’s gaze was focused below her chin. ‘Are you growing a beard?’ he asked. ‘I had one black hair - but I couldn’t see it. It made me laugh so much!’
At 61, Jennifer is strikingly gorgeous – chin fluff and all. Her skin is so unlined.
‘I do as little as possible. I always used Clarins and a light moisturiser – it’s genes and luck. My grandmother had good skin.’
Does she consider herself beautiful? ‘Not really. But I don’t worry about being older. It catches you by surprise sometimes. You’re walking towards the mirror going, “There’s an old woman! Oh, it’s me…”’
She was 29 when she and Dawn French started their sketch show, French and Saunders, which ran for 20 years on the BBC. Then, aged 34, she wrote and starred in the award-winning Absolutely Fabulous, alongside Joanna Lumley.
Throughout, she was raising three daughters on a Devon farm with husband, fellow comedian Ade Edmondson: ‘ We had a nanny. But if I was on tour he’d be at home, and vice versa. There was rarely a time one of us wasn’t there.’ Her daughters, Ella, Beattie
and Freya, are 33, 32 and 29 respectively, with families, partners and homes of their own. These days, Jennifer says yes to work whenever she feels like it. ‘As you get older, things matter less. Not so much rides on it.’
For her latest role, Jennifer plays a non-comedic part in Netflix series, The Stranger. Adapted from a psychological thriller by Harlan Coben, a man’s world is shattered when a stranger tells him a secret about his wife.
She was nervous on day one, joining a cast that includes Siobhan Finneran and Richard Armitage. ‘At one point I thought, “I’m feeling faint,” but everyone was terrific.’
Apparently, Coben begged her to take the part. ‘ Weirdly, he was an Ab Fab fan,’ she says.
‘At school, I was often happier in my own company than with a big gang’
Jennifer’s work has always had broad appeal. She was once listed as one of the 50 Funniest Acts in Britain, and named 93rd Sexiest British Star by entertainment channel, E! A funny, sexy role model. If she had to choose one, which would it be? ‘I have no intention of being a role model or a sexy thing. I’d like to be a funny act.’
As a child, Jennifer and her three brothers moved a lot. Her father, Robert, was an