Not just anybody. How the fit and fabulous stay that way
Actress Jessica Stevenson, 33 says doing 'baby-ups'
keeps her from turning into a couch potato
You have two British Comedy Awards and a Bafta nomination
under your belt. Has it been laughter all the way?
There have been tough times. About ten years ago, when I first started getting
acting parts, just before I co-wrote the TV series Spaced with Simon Pegg, I
gave up my part-time jobs washing dishes and waitressing. I thought I’d made it.
A few months later, the wind changed and I had to go back to evenings hunched over
dirty lasagne dishes. Believe me, I wept into the sink. I remember thinking this
was the lowest point of my life.
And the highest?
Realising that other people find me funny. I’ve learnt not to take it for granted,
though; things change quickly. My kids have already stopped laughing at my jokes
and they are only 7, 3 and 2 months old.
How important is looking good in your job?
My mental health is more important to me. I’d rather be sane
and ugly than mad and beautiful.
What about the pressure to stay young and beautiful?
It depends on what you value and how you define yourself as a performer. If you feel
that your looks make you successful, you hold on to them. If you value your talent,
looks are less important.
Would you go under the knife?
I might have considered it once.
So what’s stopped you?
Now that I have children I’d never be able to justify the expense. It’s an awful lot
to go through just so that people say: “Wow! Look at her beautiful nose!”
Your new film Confetti is a comedy about couples competing
for an award for the most original wedding. Where does
religion fit in?
It doesn’t. The film is about themed weddings and God’s not really involved.
I’m agnostic, so it wasn’t a problem for me.
Do you believe in monogamy?
It makes everything a lot less complicated; I wouldn’t have got married if I didn’t.
How would you describe your humour?
It ranges from knock-knock jokes to suicide gags, and the really dirty stuff that
the American stand-up Sarah Silverman is doing.
Do you have a dark side?
Definitely. Finding laughs in the darker recesses of humanity is a useful life tool.
It makes it easier to cope with the bad stuff that is inflicted on us all.
Have you always been funny?
I’ve always thought so. I’m my No 1 fan. My mother is No 2. At the age of 6 or 7
I would watch and copy her mimicking people that we knew. That’s where it started.
She gets my jokes, and me all round more than anyone else.
Did you tread the boards at a young age?
From about 13. It gave me a focus although it didn’t stop me getting up to the
usual teenage shenanigans of boozing and misbehaving.
Are you a big drinker?
Oh yes, I’ve done my fair share of binge drinking. I’m an English girl, after all.
But I’ve grown out of it. I don’t smoke any more either.
Did the children make you quit?
No, I’m too stubborn to stop doing anything until I’ve stopped enjoying it. I had
to wait until I started to grimace through my own cigarette smoke. That was in
between my first two children.
Do three kids give you all the exercise you need?
If I need a top-up I do what I call “baby-ups”. Lying on the carpet, I lift my baby
up and down in the air. I vary it a bit to make it fun for baby
and hard work for my abs.
If you had more time ...
I might do a street-dance class (a combination of jazz, modern and ballet).
I tried it once and loved it. These days, I have to be opportunistic with time.
I grab it when I can.
And what do you do with it?
I imagine I’m one of Prince’s backing singers. Listening to music and singing
along is my escapism.
Any health niggles?
Only a recent obsession with dental hygiene. Flossing strikes terror in most
people under forty. But you have to look after your gums. If only because it
stops you having your teeth bolted into your jaw later in life.
Your character Cheryl in The Royle Family battled with body issues.
Are you a calorie counter?
Absolutely not. In my fridge, you’ll find ham, sausages, yoghurt, lots of veggies,
cheese and watercress - I was obsessed with the stuff when I was pregnant.
Signature dish?
I make a good fish pie and wash it down with red wine, for the cancer-fighting
effects, obviously. As a child, I moaned about my mother’s healthy food. It’s
terrible being packed off to school with hoummos sandwiches and wholemeal bread.
Now I appreciate that she was ahead of her time. She was at the forefront of
the rise of the chickpea.
What does the future hold?
I’d like to try stand-up comedy. I’d be the only actor who has moved into
stand-up rather than the other way round.
Life’s greatest challenge?
Living in the moment. It’s when I enjoy life the most.
Taken From: timesonline.co.uk