Amanda Redman: ‘My most embarrassing moment? Getting caught doing a pretend Bafta thank you speech’

Born in Brighton, Amanda Redman, 69, studied at Bristol Old Vic theatre school. She starred in the TV comedy drama El C.I.D. in the 1990s, and in At Home With the Braithwaites from 2000 to 2003, a role that earned her a Bafta nomination. She played the lead in the BBC series New Tricks for a decade until 2013, and her later work includes The Trials of Jimmy Rose and The Good Karma Hospital. On 28 September, her 2000 film Sexy Beast will be rereleased in a limited-edition box set. She has a daughter and lives in London with her second husband.

When were you happiest?
I am happiest when I have my daughter and granddaughter with me.

What is your earliest memory?
Being in hospital. I was standing up in a cot and we were being asked what we wanted for lunch. I think it was Great Ormond Street. I had managed to pull a cauldron of boiling turkey and vegetable soup all over me when I was 18 months old, and I spent five years of my life in various hospitals.

Which living person do you most admire and why?
Barack Obama, for his decency. I felt real hope when he was elected, which has been dashed now.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Bossiness.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Meanness of spirit.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
When my ex-husband [actor Robert Glenister] first took me to meet his parents. He left me in the front room while he went to help get the drinks; his father, John, was a famous television director and there were awards on the mantelpiece; I picked up a Bafta and started doing a thank you speech to the wall, and then I turned round and they were all clapping. It was mortifying.

Describe yourself in three words
Opinionated, loyal, warm.

What would your superpower be?
To read the room better than I do.

What is your most unappealing habit?
My brain operates quite quickly and sometimes I speak over other people because something’s formed in my brain, when I should actually shut up and listen.

What was the last lie that you told?
That I thought somebody was great in their work – and I didn’t believe that.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Slumping in front of the television and binge-watching dramas.

To whom would you most like to say sorry and why?
My brother, for not understanding his addiction to alcohol better.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I love you.

What has been your biggest disappointment?
That I didn’t get to play more of the Shakespearean heroines that I’m now too old to play.

How often do you have sex?
As often as we can.

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
At the moment, a good next job.

Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Money.

How would you like to be remembered?
As somebody who tried.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
That it’s too bloody short.

Tell us a secret
I’ve just got into influencers and I’m obsessed with fashion.