Emma Thompson

'Trunchbull is the physical expression of her internal rage and despair, says Thompson, who spent three hours in the makeup chair each day to become the ...

She was born in the Victorian era, and she was very, very tall and had a bent spine and a bent nose when she was born. That shot is a combination of me and the professional, Justin. We had a professional athlete, a hammer thrower, who came and showed me how to throw a hammer. There's a shot of me throwing not an actual hammer or an actual child (laughs), but throwing and then getting in the position. He wrote a series called The Magic Roundabout, which was very successful in the sixties and seventies and was an accidental thing that he fell into. I never forget the cruelty of Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker in James and the Giant Peach. And I suppose Trunchbull is the physical expression of her internal rage and despair. The thing about Nanny McPhee, which is something I'm grappling with at the moment, because we're transferring Nanny McPhee onto the stage as a musical. You can put it here (points to her chin) because I don't use this bit as much." I said, "No, don't cover this bit up (points to her forehead) because I'll be doing all the expression here. I'm so grateful that I read such wonderful writers when I was a child. "It's very existential," she tells EW of assuming such a grotesque form.