I’d be Game for internet dating if it wasn’t for my line of work

Last Christmas star tells how she loves Wham!, the festive season and waking up on December 25 to a stocking filled with goodies

BY RICK FULTON r.fulton@dailyrecord.co.uk strong women. She said: “I think it’s a cop out and doesn’t say anything.”

In Last Christmas, her character Kate is a mess – a heavy drinker who has to dress as an elf in a London Christmas shop as she struggles to recover from a near-death experience.

In March, Emilia revealed she suffered an aneurysm in 2011 after she finished filming the first series of Game of Thrones. She had to undergo brain surgery and afterwards couldn’t remember her own name. Two years later, she had a second aneurysm surgically treated.

When I had a data entry job, I treated the wheeled chair as a source of entertainment and when I was a cocktail waitress, I got the change wrong and lost them money.”

The Last Christmas script was written by Emma Thompson and the film was directed by Paul Feig – the man behind comedy blockbusters Bridesmaids, Heat and Spy.

It has taken seven years to get off the ground. In 2012, Emma was approached about a film based on Wham’s 1984 hit but wasn’t interested. The producers persevered and she met George Michael before his death in December 2016, aged 53.

The film was eventually made last December in London.

Emilia said: “Filming at Christmas in London was bonkers. Because we were in Covent Garden and Regent Street, we started at midnight and finished at midday. I was in a perpetual sort of hangover state.

“Starting filming at midnight in the centre of London had its issues. There were a lot of drunk people wandering around, shouting at us and leaning out of windows telling us how bad we were.”

However, Emilia thinks they have made a film that will become a

Christmas classic. She said: “It’s really wonderful, so current and grounded in today as we reflect on things such as immigration, Brexit and internet dating.

“This is a story grounded in reality, where no one is perfect. That’s what makes it special and relatable I think.”

The rom-com element comes when Kate meets Tom, played by Henry Golding, who opens her eyes to appreciating what she has rather than what she thinks she wants.

The classic Wham song is featured once in the film – and Emilia sings it.

She said: “It was my favourite Christmas song before this movie so I sort of knew it well. Then you start singing it in front of 400 extras and you start to forget the words. There were a lot of blunders that are probably on the blooper reel.”

Emilia loves Christmas, adding: “Every Christmas, even though my brother and I are in our 30s, we both wake up excited to get our Christmas stockings. I go home to my bed and lots of hugs with my friends and my mum and dad.”

Last Christmas is out in cinemas on November 15.