-So, you play a judge in this film.
-Play a judge, yeah. -Did you speak to judges?
Did you spend time in the court?
-Yeah, I really -- It was absolutely fascinating.
Because I don't know you have it here,
but it's the family court. -Mm-hmm.
-And, of course, the family court,
because it's about the most important thing in the world,
is considered rather less than the criminal court,
so it's a slightly poor cousin.
But, of course, when you sit in the courtrooms,
you realize that
these people are presiding over life and death
and watching terrible pain and suffering.
And she's presiding over a case about a Jehovah's Witness boy
who's refused a blood transfusion.
But at the same time, Stan Tucci, her husband,
has just thrown a hand grenade into the marriage
and said, "I'm going to have an affair."
So, it's all about her balancing herself,
and it -- it's Ian McEwan,
so it's very, very interesting and sort of complicated
and human, you know?
There's no black and white. There's no goodies and baddies.
It's -- It's all the gray areas of our lives
where we get totally confused and don't know what to do.
-It's a fantastic part. -Mm-hmm.
-I also noticed, of course, you have to play piano in the film.
-Yeah, yeah. -Is that --
And you have to play some pretty serious piano,
not just joking-around piano.
Do you have skills as a pianist? -Yeah. I --
I mean, I can play the piano, but I had to --
I had to learn this so that I could play it live.
So we -- we didn't pre-record or anything like that.
So, my family threatened to throw me out
because I rehearsed so much over six months.
So, in the end, I used -- in the end, I went to rehearse
in a piano shop on the Fulham Road.
And it was a big glass thing,
and I would be playing the piano,
and people would be outside looking in at the piano,
wondering about whether perhaps to purchase it.
And perhaps, also wondering whether if I came with it
in some way. -Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-And I might have gone with some of them, actually.
They were... -So, wait. This --
These are people just walking down the street?
-Yes. [ Laughter ]
-They... [ Applause ]
[ Laughs ]
That's very alluring. -Alluring.
-Very alluring. -Yes.
-'Cause usually, on my first dates,
I would both have to find someone to go on the date with
and find a pianist. -[ Laughs ]
-So, if you can get both at once...
-Yes, that's it. Yes. -Did you --
So people were just walking by and saying,
"Oh, is that Emma Thompson in the window?"
-I don't know whether they were thinking that, actually.
-Yeah.
-I didn't notice that, particularly, but it was odd.
-It seems like there's somewhere between home,
where you were kicked out for playing...
-Yeah. -But it seems like
there's other options
other than in the window of an actual piano shop.
-I know. [ Laughter ]
I'll tell you why, though --
'cause it was a really posh piano.
-Uh-huh. -And I had to play that piano.
-Oh, I gotcha. -Yeah.
So, it was all just -- I had to. There was no --
No, I had no other choice. -All right.
Well, obviously, I take back my earlier criticism.
-Yeah, yeah, don't. Yeah. -Yeah.
[ Laughter ] -Don't even try. Yeah.
-Your husband is an actor. -He is.
-He was in "The Crown." -Yes.
-First couple seasons of "The Crown."
-Yes. -Do you feel like,
for all British actors, like -- Dame Commander's one thing --
obviously, that's a great accomplishment --
but that you also have to be in shows about the royal family?
Like, that's the true thing to aim for?
-[ Clears throat ]
I did play the Queen once, actually...
-You did play the Queen. -...but not well -- not well.
[ Laughter ]
She -- It was really -- It was about that moment --
Do you -- Do you remember that bloke
broke into Buckingham Palace... - Yes.
-...and sat on the edge of her bed
and told her him her life story? -Yes.
-His life story -- that -- it was that.
But, I mean, I watched it and I thought, "I don't think --
I think other people have done it better."
I mean, everyone's in "The Crown."
Ev-- Everyone. -Yeah.
[ Laughter ] -It -- It's --
And I wasn't asked to be in it. [ Laughter ]
And I feel a bit twisted about it.
But, you know, look, I'll have my revenge
in some way. [ Laughter ]
-I think we're all looking forward to that.
-Absolutely. [ Cheers and applause ]
-We're all looking forward to that.
Now...
a part you, obviously, played with great skill,
which was fantastic, is Nanny McPhee,
which I've heard you say is your favorite part.
Is that true that it's your favorite part
that you've played? -It sort of is, yeah.
-That's wonderful. -Yes.
-It's so -- such a unique thing,
and now you're trying to adapt it as a musical.
-Yes. -"Nanny McPhee."
-I am. -Now, that sounds to me
like a very arduous thing to undertake.
-Yeah, there was some famous musical producer who once said,
"If Hitler's alive, I hope he's out of town
and working on a new musical." [ Laughter ]
Because it's just hell, 'cause you just --
you have to chuck it all out and then start again,
and, I mean, I've been working on it for two years already.
-And does -- did you undertake it knowing -- did you --
had enough people told you that, when you started,
you thought, "This will be a two-year process"?
Or was it -- -Yeah.
It was that kind -- -Okay.
-People would -- you'd say, "I'm going to do this."
[ Breathing quickly ]
You know, all kind of... [ Breathing quickly ]
And they'd sort of go, "Mnh. Mnh."
[ Laughter ]
-Well, I have --
-"We'll see you in a couple of years," you know?
-Well, I look forward to it.
I have a lot of confidence in you.
Please don't let me down. -No, I'll try.
-Because that Dame Commander stuff --
they can take that right away from you.
-Oh, absolutely. -Yeah.
-Yeah, 'cause my badge could be stripped.
-[ Laughing ] They can just show up -- and, yeah.
-Stripped of my badge.
-It's such a pleasure having you here.
Thank you so much for making the time.
-Oh, not at all. [ Cheers and applause ]