Emma Thompson became 'seriously ill' after Oscars appearances: 'I had to lie down'
Hollywood star Dame Emma Thompson has told how attending the Academy Awards left her "seriously ill", because the pressure and the glare of the occasion was 'too much'
Dame Emma Thompson became "seriously ill" each time she attended the Academy Awards.
The 63-year-old actress found the "pressure and glare" of the Oscars "too much" to deal with, admitting she developed a "sort of allergy" to such occasions.
She said: "Both times I had to do the Oscars I got seriously ill. I found the pressure and glare of it too much.
"It's astonishing - and then afterwards you want to lie down in a dark room. You think, 'Please don't ask me any questions or make me talk about myself.'
"I quickly developed a sort of allergy to that part of the job. I'm lucky - I think it must be awful if you're James Bond."
Emma won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in 1992 movie 'Howards End' and she also landed a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar after she wrote the screenplay for 1995 film 'Sense and Sensibility'.
But the actress - who has also appeared in the likes of 'Love Actually', 'Saving Mr Banks', The Remains of the Day' and the 'Harry Potter' franchise - has insisted she didn't ever dream of becoming a big Hollywood star.
She said: "I had no ambition of wanting to be a movie star. It didn't occur to me.
"The first acting I did on telly was 'Tutti Frutti' [1987] with Robbie Coltrane. I got that by accident because they needed a woman who could do a Scottish accent and Robbie said, 'Ask Thompson.' "
Emma has been married to her second husband Greg Wise for 20 years - after she was initially married to actor and filmmaker Sir Kenneth Branagh from 1989 to 1995 - but the star insists romantic love is "a myth and quite dangerous".
She added to the Radio Times magazine: "It's philosophically helpful and uplifting to remember that romantic love is a myth and quite dangerous. We really do have to take it with a massive pinch of salt.
"To think sensibly about love and the way it can grow is essential. Long-term relationships are hugely difficult and complicated! If anyone thinks that happy ever after has a place in our lives, forget it!"
