Emma Thompson reveals worst-ever Christmas present: 'The bite marks had been cut off'
Watch: A Very Kidsmas Interview with Dame Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson has revealed the worst Christmas gift she's ever received - along with her views on teabags, her dancing skills and where she keeps her Oscars.
In a charming interview to highlight 'Kidsmas', Barnardo's festive fundraising campaign, the national treasure settled down by the Christmas tree with young interviewers Imani and Tally, for a chat .
"You're a Dame, how should we address you?" asked Tally.
"It's actually 'Your Royal Dameness'", Emma told them, straight-faced.
"Okay thank you," said Tally, politely.
They were straight in with their first question, "Have you ever taken a prop home?"
"The only prop I have taken home is the original stick from the Nanny McPhee films," admitted Emma, who wore a silky blue top for the interview.
Reaching out, she produced the magical stick.
Read more: Barnardo’s Kidsmas Live concert raises vital funds to support vulnerable families this Christmas
"Here it is," she added. "Don't you think its knobbly bits look like a witch's knees?"
The girls then explained that they loved her in the films, and wanted to know, "were those your real teeth?"
"No, they weren't," Emma, 63, admitted. She bared her own, saying "these are, look."
Imani and Tally presented the actor with new fake teeth, before adding their own.
"Oh my goodness, that's hilarious," She said. "Mine are quite Nanny McPhee, yours are more vampire."
Conversation then turned to upcoming projects - and prosthetics.
'"Is it true that you're playing Miss Trunchbull in the new Matilda film?" they asked.
"Yes it is," Emma nodded. "It's the most extraordinary costume, because I had to wear a big fat suit and then these great big boots, a very heavy costume, prosthetics stuck on me - great big ears and a pretend. nose."
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Imani steamed in with the obvious question, "How could you eat if you already had the make up on?"
"Well as long as you don't rub your food over your face," Emma replied. "I don't eat like that - well, I do sometimes, but best not to dwell," she joked.
Like all good interviewers, the girls then turned their attention to the actor's personal life, probing into her marriage to actor Greg Wise.
"Your husband was on Strictly," Tally began, before throwing a curveball with, "Can you dance better than him?"
"Yes," Emma replied immediately. Nevertheless, the girls offered to teach her to dance.
As the dance turned out to be one small pirouette together, Emma tried to join in, but burst out laughing.
"Is that it? You wouldn't get very far on Strictly with that, would you?" she asked them.
"You'd be kicked out," admitted Tally, with disarming honesty.
They then presented the Oscar-winning actor with a packet of teabags, as they'd "heard you like tea."
"That's extremely funny," snorted Emma, extracting a teabag and holding it up. "I'll treasure those."
An in all good interviews, it was time for the nitty gritty - and Imani steamed in, asking, "What's the worst Christmas present you've ever had?"
Unlike her Love, Actually character, who famously received a Joni Mitchell CD instead of the gold necklace she expected from her cheating husband, Emma had a much more shocking answer.
"I had a very strange aunt," she told the girls, "and one year, she sent me a half-eaten Milky Bar. The bite marks had been cut off. it was very strange. I remember thinking, 'this is a bit odd.'" She said.
Once recovered from their horror, they were curious about the where the multi-award winner keeps her trophies.
"Where do you keep your awards?" They asked. "Do you show them to everyone who comes to your house?
"Can you imagine if the first thing I said when anyone came to my house was 'let me show you my awards'?" Laughed Emma. "Wouldn't you walk straight out? I would."
"Yeah," Imani agreed. "Bit of a show off."
Emma explained, "I've got a shelf at the top of my room with my telly in, and they're all up there. I've got two Oscars, and they're sort of special, quite a big deal, so I've got those in the loo downstairs," she added.
"So people can go to the loo and say 'oh there are the Oscars.' Then they can stand in front of the mirror and hold the Oscar, and say, 'I'd like to thank my mother,' and then put it back down again.
"I don't know if anyone's ever done that, but at least they can have a little lift," she joked.
As the interview wound down, Imani explained: "We've got to read out the final bit. Can you teach us how to say it, like proper actors do?"
"Just read it out really simply, in your lovely voices," advised Emma.
They then asked for donations to Barnardo's, to help vulnerable children feel 'happy and safe' this Christmas.
"It's Kidsmas" Imani corrected.
"That's brilliant," said Emma. "You should be ruling the world, the pair of you."
Find out more: Barnardos.org.uk
Watch: Barnardo's Kidsmas Live raises vital funds
