Did your history with him change the way you worked together here?
It was easier, because he knew me and I knew him. I’ll never forget seeing him at the first [Harry Potter] premiere - he was such a little boy! He was like a rabbit caught in the flashbulbs. This little face! Everybody loves him - the girls are mad for him. I can’t tell you! Brilliant for him, really.

Did you have the urge to help him along in this film?
No, not really. But it would make me laugh, making him laugh. He so tries not to giggle - he’s a terrible giggler. We’d say, ‘We’ve got to get it this take’, then he’d start laughing, you’d see his shoulder’s going and oh no! But I don’t think there was anything else. He was probably worried about manhandling me when I was drunk. That was a difficult scene in a tiny little space. But he’s so strong, built like nobody’s business.

And then what about going back to play his mother again in the next Harry Potter film?
Well I’m just about to do it. And we can say that we’ve been off doing something else! But I don’t think it’ll make much difference. I’ve only got eight or nine days on this next Potter - a couple of weeks.

Is the story true that when the new Harry Potter books come out, you rush to get them?
No. I’ll tell you what happened. It was when they were reporting that someone was going to die, I thought: Ooh, who would that be? I went out and looked in the new book at the end and saw Mrs Weasley was still there. Whew!

What about the Philip Pullman project?
It’s called The Ruby in the Smoke, with Billie Piper, who’s lovely - a really great girl. I don’t know what I was expecting her to be really, but she’s just really nice. It’s a series of little novels called the Sally Lockhart Mysteries. Billie plays Sally Lockhart, the girl, in Victorian times, and I’m her sort of arch nemesis, with this gross set of false teeth. I thought: Oh, I’ve got to play this. So we had these special teeth made - God, they’re extraordinary! And I love playing the villain - she’s a murdering old cow, basically. A complete psychopath really.

What about Becoming Jane?
Yes, I play Jane Austen’s mother. That was fab to do - I loved doing that. We filmed it in Ireland, which is of course where Jane Austen lived!

How do you feel about being voted the fourth funniest woman in Britain?
The fourth! It’s marvellous! What can I say? I’m very pleased. I thank you, all of you, for voting for me. Marvellous! In the old days you would have put that in your introduction - I think I might do that. And yes, Victoria deserves to be number one. She’s brilliant - a genius as far as I’m concerned. So I’m thrilled she’s up there. She should be.

Looking back over your great career—
What? Can you say that again?

Your great career! What are your personal highlights? Any regrets about a part you didn’t take?
No, I never regret that. A personal highlight would be working with Victoria, Educating Rita on stage, there’s loads of them really, working with Alan Bleasdale and Alan Bennett. Mainly stage work - All My Sons at the National was a definite highlight and also Fool for Love. Evie was so theatrical - she was definitely a highlight - I’m sure I’ll look back on her and smile.

You say Educating Rita on stage. What about the film?
It’s just that it’s more exciting on stage. Stage work is more exciting than film - it just is. Because each night is different, and each audience - you have a relationship with them. There’s nothing like a Saturday night house with Educating Rita at the Piccadilly, packed with people who are breathing when you do. It’s just an amazing feeling. There’s nothing like that really.

When you made the movie of Educating Rita, did you think film work would eventually have such an important role in your career?
No. I went to a screening and I thought I was dreadful in it. And I thought: Well, it’s just terrible. And then they were talking about Oscars - ‘Have they gone mad?’ I just thought it was dreadful - I thought it was really bad and I was terrible in it. Because it was so different from the stage, I never accepted it at all. It was a real shock that it became so popular.

Were you ever tempted by Hollywood?
No. I love America and everything, but in terms of work I never had a great desire to go there and work. It’s just a very different ballgame. I much prefer here. I just think there’s more talent here, actually. There just is. And of course I’ve got a family here, and I think that’s important. Because otherwise, work becomes everything. I’m not London-based - I live in the country.

Do you think you might become like Evie when you’re older?
Drunk, you mean? No, Evie’s very lonely and pained. The centre of her is the fact that she has a huge amount of grief still carried around. And I hope to God that I don’t have that when I’m older. But I think you can say more what you want when you’re older - people will forgive you. When you’re young and you start telling people where to go, they just say, ‘What a git!’, but when you’re older you’re allowed a bit more of that. She has that, and she also has an eccentricity that’s about being on your own, which I hope I don’t have. The fact that she doesn’t relate lots to people, so she’s slightly odd when she goes out. But I hope I feel free like she does to express myself. I think that’s fantastic.

CHARLOTTE STREET HOTEL, LONDON • 8.AUG.06