JOANNA LUMLEY Photos 2016

I do not give a damn about my appearance!

As she returns to her iconic role of champagne-swigging Patsy for the Ab Fab film, actress Joanna Lumley lifts the lid on kissing A-listers, going wild with her co-stars and why she loves getting older to live the high life for ever more!

In the flesh, Joanna looks just as glam as she does on screen – so what’s her secret to looking so good?
Laughing, she says: Darling the secret is lashings of make-up and plenty of hair dye. And having two grandchildren [Joanna’s son Jamie, 48, has two daughters Alice, 12, and Emily, 11] keeps me young. Joanna – who is a passionate campaigner for Nepal’s Gurkhas and animal welfare admits she’s embraced the ageing process and would never succumb to surgery. She says: I love the idea of growing older and wiser and not having to give so much of a damn about your appearance.

That’s why I’d never alter the way I look.
I know women my age have surgery, but I’d never want huge jutting out bosoms when I was 80. I mean why does a grandmother want that?

HEALTHY LIVING
The actress clearly takes good care of herself and, although her Ab Fab character is famous for boozing, Joanna insists she hardly drinks alcohol.

She says: I’m not a big drinker. I might have two glasses of wine a week tops and sometimes I will have a gin and tonic when I have finished filming, as it is a nice release.

I also do not have an exercise regime, that sort of thing bores me stiff. Luckily I’m tall [Joanna is 5ft 8] and I have broad shoulders, which helps.

Jooking as fabulous as ever at the age of 69, Joanna Lumley is set to wow fans when she returns to the big screen next July for the much-anticipated Absolutely Fabulous movie.

Reprising her role as party-loving Patsy Stone, the stunning actress has recently finished a seven-week shoot on location in the UK and South of France. Many of the scenes of her and Jennifer Saunders, aka Eddy Monsoon, were shot on board a luxury yacht. And Joanna admits it was a blast to be reunited with her former co-star.
She reveals: It was awesome and of course me and Jennifer were swigging champagne on the back of the yacht. It was so great to all be back together again – we had an absolute scream. The film is not due out until next summer now, but it will be worth the wait.

ALL-STAR REUNION
The much-loved comedy also reunites original cast members Julia Sawalha (Saffy), Jane Horrocks (Bubble) and June Whitfield (Eddy’s mother).

With Kate Moss, Emma Bunton and Lulu all having confirmed roles in the new film and Kim Kardashian rumoured to be taking part, Joanna also admits that Patsy gets to kiss another well-known male celeb, but is remaining tight-lipped about who.

She laughs: Last year I appeared on an ITV Christmas special with George Clooney but there are no plans for a reunion with George and he hasn’t got a cameo sadly.

But we have got someone else who is rather dishy and who I managed to kiss… and no it is not Leonardo DiCaprio, she adds, referring to her snog with Leo in The Wolf Of Wall Street.
In the new Ab Fab movie, Eddy and Patsy are still oozing glitz and glamour, shopping and partying their way around London’s trendiest hotspots. But when they are blamed for a major incident at a fashionable launch party, they become entangled in a media storm.

Don’t look like trash, do not be sick down your front and do not break your heels and stagger about. It’s not me being a snob about it, it is just standard practice for how our species should behave.
I’m a vegetarian and I eat healthily.

When she’s not working, Joanna spends time with her composer husband of 29 years, Stephen Barlow, 61.
She reveals: Stephen and I make the most of our time together. As a composer, he often has to travel all over the world and I have to film at weekends. Sometimes we might get two days off together and we consider that a holiday, so we zip up to our cottage in Scotland, which is our fabulous rural retreat career dreams As in demand as ever, Joanna – who was once a Bond girl in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and starred as Purdey in The New Avengers – admits she feels fortunate to be working at her age.

I’m not asked to play 23 year olds any more, which is a bit of a blow, she jokes before adding: If you are old, you are not going to play young leads. All I really want to do is good work. I do not mind if that’s a radio play or a big movie or a documentary.

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