The night I nearly had an orgy with Stephen Fry, by Emma Thompson
AS proud graduates of the Cambridge Footlights, Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry have gone on to become stars of the stage and screen.
But not before they were involved in a rather fruity drama of their own, the actress has revealed.
The 58-year-old Oscar winner gave a talk at Cambridge University, where she graduated with a degree in English literature, and revealed the pair almost had an orgy.
She said: ‘I’m not a big fan of parties. I do remember Stephen trying to have an orgy in his rooms. It wasn’t that successful. I mean, no one took their clothes off, which is not really what you want in an orgy.
‘I was in a plastic all-in-one, zip-up thing, which I’d bought in Camden. Don’t ask. I thought, “Nothing’s happening here”. I think someone had their hand down someone else’s trousers, which wasn’t very thrilling.
‘Someone came up to me and tried to put their hand down... and I just thought, “I don’t think this is going to work for me!”, so I left. That was some time ago now.’
Miss Thompson, who graduated from Newnham College in 1981, starred in the fabled amateur theatrical Footlights troupe alongside Fry, as well as Hugh Laurie. The trio remain friends to this day.
They were also contemporaries of comedian Tony Slattery and Fast Show star Paul Shearer. Other notable former members include John Cleese, Julian Fellowes and Trevor Nunn.
The talk was held in June but only recently uploaded to YouTube. Miss Thompson, who is married to actor Greg Wise, also admitted to smoking cannabis during her heady student days, as well as having sex in her college loos.
Asked about the naughtiest thing she had done, she said: ‘I had a s**g in one of the toilets in Newnham ... I wasn’t even at the college – it was my interview day!
‘We grew weed in our garden at Cambridge and the landlady came round and said, “You’re going to have to pull all that up because you do know I am liable?”
‘So we pulled it all up and we dried it in the airing cupboard and probably smoked it over the course of that winter. That was reasonably naughty!’
Last night spokesmen for Miss Thompson and Fry declined to comment.