Dawn French says 18 months of work ‘disappeared’ overnight as coronavirus pandemic hit
The Vicar of Dibley star admitted the global health crisis has been ‘very frightening’ with filming, theatre and touring projects being postponed to 2021
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Dawn French has admitted her “full diary” and 18 months of work “disappeared” overnight thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
The actress, 63, admitted the global health crisis has been “very frightening” with filming, theatre and touring projects being postponed to 2021.
In an interview with Good Housekeeping – which she looks radiant posing on the over of for their January issue – the star has spoken candidly about the impact Covid-19 had on her career.
The Vicar of Dibley star told the publication: “It was very frightening – 18 months of work disappeared in one morning.
“Some filming went, some theatre work and touring, but we’ve pencilled it in at the end of next year.
“I am a person who likes to have a nice full diary. I like to know what I am doing and pay my mortgage and enjoy my life and challenge myself.
“All that just disappeared overnight. But later it started to come back and new projects happened. You just have to take it in your stride.”
Thankfully her workload has started to pick up again with Dawn this week returning to telly to reprise her iconic role of Geraldine Granger for a festive reboot of The Vicar Of Dibley.
The show originally aired in 1994, and came to an end in 2007.
Ahead of its comeback, Dawn spoke of her agony as she returned to the set of the fictional Oxfordshire village without her co-star Emma Chambers .
Emma – who played Alice Tinker on the hit show – passed away in February 2018 after suffering a heart attack aged 53.
Speaking to Jason Manford on Absolute Radio, Dawn said: “When the restrictions were lifted and we were able to go outside in real life… so we go back to Dibley, which was absolutely lovely to go back and be back in the church and stuff.
“But it’s also bittersweet because you know, we’ve lost people. When you make a sitcom like that over so many years, especially with lots of older people, you just watch as the years go by and some of us fall off the perch.”
The one-off TV special includes a heartbreaking eulogy to Emma.
The show dedicates an episode to Emma as a touching tribute, and Dawn admitted it was “not easy to film”.
She added: “One of the little films is indeed a tribute to her which was not easy to film.
“But that’s the great thing about Dibley is it can be silly, light and frothy and it can be quite political and it can also be about real life grief and difficult stuff.”
While the show will no longer have those classic post-credits scenes where Geraldine tells Alice a joke which she does not understand, Dawn said there will be a nod to that.
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