Dame Emma Thompson, the Oscar-winning actress, recently shared a humorous anecdote about being mistaken for a shoe saleswoman while dining at the iconic Harry's Bar in Venice. The 67-year-old actress initially thought a woman waving and smiling at her was a fan recognizing her from her film work. However, the woman approached her and expressed gratitude for a shoe recommendation Thompson allegedly gave her years ago at the Barney's department store in New York.
The Mistaken Identity at Harry's Bar
Thompson, known for her roles in films like Howard's End and Sense and Sensibility, said: 'I was sitting there and this woman kept peeling off these massive smiles and waving. I thought, "ok, so she must know my work." Anyway, she came over as she was leaving and said, "I'm so happy to see you in here. You know, I still wear those shoes. I wear them all the time. I love them. You were so right. I was wrong and you were right."'
Confused, Thompson replied: 'I sat there thinking "shoes? I can't work this out. I haven't made a film about shoes, have I?" The woman then stunned me, saying, "you remember the fifth floor in Barney's in New York?" She thought I'd sold her a pair of shoes in the department store Barney's. She was thrilled to see me in Harry's Bar, because clearly that meant I was doing quite well for myself.'
Appreciating the stranger's good intentions, Thompson added: 'I said, "I'm so glad they still fit."'
Public Encounters and Family Time
Thompson, who is currently starring in The Sheep Detectives alongside Hugh Jackman and filming the Apple TV+ series Down Cemetery Road, noted that not all public encounters are as heartwarming. She said: 'When you're buying sausages with your daughter, you don't really want people coming up to you saying, "can I have a selfie?" I wouldn't say no to a child, but sometimes if I'm with the family, I'll say, "would you mind awfully? I just, I'm with my family."'
She added: 'What's so interesting is that every time I have said no, and it's quite rare, people have taken it so well, because they seem to understand.'
Staying Incognito in London
Despite her fame, Thompson often goes unnoticed in public. She said: 'Nobody takes any notice of me on the tube. They're all looking at their phones.' She contrasted her experience with that of action stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, noting that she seldom gets bothered. She said: 'I can pass, not necessarily unnoticed, but certainly it's never been an issue. People just tend to say "love your work, bye." It's lovely.'
She also recounted moments when people mistake her for other actresses: 'I've also many times got from people, "oh my god, you're…" so and so. And then they say the name of a completely different actress. I either say, "yes, I am. I would love to give you a photograph." Or I say, "I'm 20 years younger" or "sorry, I am 20 years older," or I say, "no, she's dead, actually." But then I just kind of move gently on through.'
New Projects and West End Musical
Thompson plays power-suit wearing lawyer Lydia Harbottle in The Sheep Detectives, a comedy crime caper about the murder of shepherd George Hardy (played by Hugh Jackman). She said: 'I loved the part. I mean I was like "I'll play a sheep. I'll play a broom. I'll play anything!"' A musical version of her 2005 film Nanny McPhee is set to hit London's West End next year.
Coping with London's Heatwave
Speaking on the American podcast Smartless, Thompson described life in London during a recent heatwave: 'It has been 35C in London and things are just dying in front of you. Pets, household appliances, flowers...everything is just wilting. It's like Dracula's walked into the town.' She added: 'How am I coping? You just lie face down on the pavement, panting, hoping that some dog will come and whittle on you and cool you down!'
Married to actor and film producer Greg Wise, 60, Thompson lives in a £3m home in London's West Hampstead. She said of Brits dealing with extreme heat: 'We don't have methods here to cope. We don't have air conditioning. It's ridiculous. We normally have three hot days a year.' She also noted differences in American and British habits: 'Also, we don't have much ice here and Americans have always been obsessed with ice. When I first arrived in America you were practically put in an ice bath when you arrived. We don't have that obsession, because we don't have probably as much money and our refrigerators are not as big. And they don't produce ice. We all get fridges that say they produce ice. And within a week, they've broken down.'
Climate Change and Theatres
Thompson expressed concern for UK theatres, many of which lack air conditioning, as temperatures rise due to climate change. She said: 'There is no air conditioning in our theatres because we've never needed it before and we haven't adapted yet to climate change. Because of climate change, look at my face. I mean, I'm the same colour as one of the stripes on my shirt. It's tragic.'
Her solution could be to spend more time in her second home in Scotland, a retreat on the shores of Loch Eck, near Dunoon, Argyll, where she likes to go with Greg and their daughter Gaia, 26. Thompson, who married in a secret ceremony on the banks of the Loch in 2003, said: 'I'm a Londoner, but I'm also a Scot. For me the most beautiful countryside is in Scotland. It is wild and it's unbound and full of the most extraordinary energies. But London is also, you know, a very precious place, because it is this great, teeming bowl of people living in this kind of massive sushi, generally speaking, quite peacefully.'
Awards in the Lavatory
Despite winning an Oscar for Best Actress in 1993 for Howard's End and an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1996 for Sense and Sensibility, Thompson remains modest about her achievements. Made a dame in 2018 for services to drama, she said: 'What do I do with all my awards? Well, the Oscars are in the lavatory, because that just keeps them in their place. The Golden Globes and the BAFTAs are on a very high shelf somewhere, where I can't see them. But I don't know, I think that's very British.'
She added: 'I could put them in the doorway, so when people come in they just trip up over them. That enables you to say, "sorry, those are my Oscars. Sorry, I'll just move them. Do come through. Would you like to freshen up?" And then have copies of them in the toilet so they can't get away - ever.'
