HOW MUCH IS A PINT OF MILK?
CELIA IMRIE
What was your first role in a school play? I played Pickles in a play called Ginger And Pickles. Pickles was a dog. I can’t remember anything about it, but I do remember liking my name above the title.
Which movie have you seen more than any other? The other day I watched What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? with my son and I realised I’ve seen it many times. It never palls. I think it’s completely wonderful. I’m fascinated by it. It’s the horror of the ending that gets me. It leads you all to that line of, “You mean all this time we could have been friends?” It’s genius, actually.
Have you ever written fan mail? I wrote to a critic once for giving me a really lovely review. He promptly gave me an absolutely vile review next. So I’m not going to be doing that again.
When were you last naked outdoors? I’m in a series in America called Better Things and I thought I’d finished filming, but then [show creator and lead] Pamela Adlon said, “Remember I wanted to do a scene about my mother pruning her roses without any clothes on? We’re doing that today.” So I did, very quickly. I wouldn’t be doing that sort of thing in real life. I’ll only take my clothes off outside when there’s a film camera around.
As a child, whose poster did you have on your wall? Nobody, but I did have a lot of ballet books, which I was obsessed with, and would try to make people come and look at them. Obviously nobody was remotely interested.
How much is a pint of milk? I’m speaking to you from Nice, where the weather is lovely, thank you. Here, it’s about 65c. In Marks & Spencer in London, I think a pint is about 51p.
What one thing do you do better than anyone else you know? Apparently I’m extremely good at bending over to pick things up off the floor with completely straight legs, because of my ballet training. So that’s terribly useful.
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever put in your mouth? I can’t abide any type of nut. So childish. Somebody tried to sneak me a vegetarian haggis recently and convince me it didn’t have any nuts in it. Full of them. Horrible. I was having none of it.
What’s the worst smell in the world? Bad breath. I was once appalled that in a line-up to meet royalty — I won’t say who — we were issued not with hand gel, to shake hands, but with a peppermint. Clearly it’s some sort of royal protocol, but I found it quite alarming.
What’s your earliest memory? I vividly remember being strapped down in my pram while my brother and sister were playing underneath the May tree. I wanted to join in with them. People say it’s silly that I think I can remember being that small but I really do.
Do you have a nickname? As a child I was called Snowdrop. We were all given flower nicknames. Not sure why.
When were you most starstruck? Meeting Bill Clinton. I’d said in a magazine article that I’d love to meet him. Then a charity that had invited him to a fundraising evening called to ask if I’d like to come and meet him. I told him I thought he was much more handsome in real life, which I think he rather loved.
When was the last time you cleaned your own bathroom? Oh, this morning. I promise I didn’t do it because I knew you were going to ask me.
FINDING YOUR FEET IS IN CINEMAS FROM 23 FEBRUARY