7 November 2024

Emily Watson Q&A: “Happiness is something that comes and goes in waves”

The actor on the Booker Prize-winning author Paul Lynch and being a master of time-wasting.

Emily Watson was born in 1967 in London. She is an actress appearing both on stage and on screen. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in HBO’s Chernobyl.

What’s your earliest memory?

The most memorable one was when it was Cup final day. I must have been three or four and I remember the street festooned in red and white. The boy next door, Jimmy – who I was in love with – was a big Arsenal fan and his baby sister was in an Arsenal nappy. I’ve been an Arsenal fan ever since. Very formative experience. It made a big impression on me.

Who are your heroes?

I grew up reading a lot of books, so I would say Bilbo Baggins as somebody who is a completely accidental, reluctant hero; someone who thinks they are ordinary and suddenly they get a knock on the door and someone says, “You’re leaving on an adventure – let’s go!” My adult hero is Vincent van Gogh. His paintings are still vibrating with life over 100 years later and there’s an emotional intensity to them. He was a brilliant, creative person. I have great admiration for that.

What book last changed your thinking?

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. A critic said it’s like having 200 pages’ worth of a panic attack. It’s a realistic novel set in Ireland where the state has gone very far to the right. There are people knocking on doors and disappearing, which is terrifying. It makes it feel like it could happen so easily.

What would be your Mastermind specialist subject?

My specialist subject would be time-wasting. If I’ve got an hour and 40 minutes, I’ll spend it on the edge of my bed fussing about something that doesn’t need doing. Not doing the things that I am supposed to be doing is a superpower.

In which time and place, other than your own, would you like to live?

There are lots of times when it would be amazing to be a fly on the wall, but not to be actually living then. I was thinking about being around in Elizabethan England with the beginnings of Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre, but it would be a pretty scary time to be alive. Life expectancy was pretty rubbish and beheadings are not far away.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The best piece of advice I received as an actor was: “Don’t aim for anything, just let go.” I’ve not followed it – occasionally I managed to! But it’s tough.

What’s currently bugging you?

The time it takes to book something online. You have to give away your life story and everything about yourself just to be able to go on the website to find the ticket. I just want to rock up to something. It takes all the spontaneity out of life!

What single thing would make your life better?

Getting rid of our dependence on phones would make my life better. That would be brilliant – I would love to do that.

When were you happiest?

I don’t know! I can remember being happy as a very small child and I was probably happy at breakfast. I think it’s something that comes and goes in waves. I couldn’t choose one moment.

In another life, what job might you have chosen?

I would probably have gone to art school. My daughter is at art school and I am seething with jealousy. There’s a link between storytelling and art, and I can somehow relate to it.

Are we all doomed?

Definitely! Death is baked in. Things disintegrate, and it does feel like they are beginning to disintegrate much faster than they have. But we have to embrace it.

“Small Things Like These” is out in cinemas on 8 November