Emma Thompson honors Angela Lansbury at the 2013 Governors Awards

what is it like working with a legend well I'm a good person to ask because I knew um and this is how I know I was sitting in my kitchen in North London and all my stories will have this slightly parochial taste to them out talking about a film I was making for children called Nanny McPhee and someone said Oh who's going to play the vile aunt Adelaide and someone I think it was our producer said them well of course it would be wonderful to get Miss Angela Lansbury and I said don't be ridiculous that's like asking for a small slice of the moon to be delivered and let's move on and we moved on I think to Peter O'Toole almost immediately and anyway we we in the end just out of well sheer audacity sent the script and heard much to our astonishment that she was interested and and then thought to our further astonishment that she was on a plane and coming and we all went into an immediate panic did not know what to do or what to expect and and then she arrived and one of the first things that happened was she came with me to my sister's house a terraced house in North London where we had a lunch for the children on Mother's Day and she sat with us and she sang bobbing along and all the adults at the great tears rolling down their cheeks and all the children sat there as though they died and gone to heaven and that was lunch buggered for the rest of our lives because as a lunch guest she's kind of tentpole my sister and I've staged entire musicals since then and nothing has ever come up to scratch she arrived on set found me in my dressing room scrubbing at my teeth I'm sure you all know how much trouble we have with them in my country and she said what are you doing I said I'm trying to erase the tea stains from my here just hear it gathers just here I don't know I think it's because I strained the you know the leaves through my teeth she said you you have to use vim this isn't really vim ladies and gentlemen is a scouring powder we use for toilets in my country it worked I have never looked back so the day came on set when a very large props man very the top in his field came to me and said I've got to throw a pie at her I've got to throw pie at Angela Lansbury it's got a hit her in the face I can't do it I can't do it I'm not kidding he really couldn't do it I said what do you mean you can't you're a props man for heaven sakes get a grip he said it as a green pie I can't I can't please please don't make me I said isn't there someone in your team who could help none of them were willing so finally they said you're gonna have to do it so I went to Angela where are you where is she yeah I went to you ang and I said would it be all right if I threw a pie at you and you said I'd rather it with you it was a green pie you sat there and I got behind the camera and I spoke to that PI I was like obi-wan Kenobi with Luke Skywalker I said to that pi feel the force don't for God's sake please don't blind her I was so scared and used that there and I threw the pie and it left my hand and I swear to you it was not me that took that pie straight smack into your face it was some other force the force of glory because you are the same glorious incandescent and wonderful girl that you have always been and use that there with this pie rolling down your face it into your lap and you burst out laughing and you spent the rest of the afternoon throwing food at the rest of the cast and that's why you are a legend and always will be and why that little slice of moon came into our lives and is still and always will be shining

Channel: Oscars

Views: 568,490

Rating: 4.9298658 out of 5

Keywords: oscars, academy awards, governors awards, Academy Award (Award), honorary award, actress, angela lansbury, emma thompson

Id: KyT8bpVinPw

Length: 4min 54sec (294 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 17 2013