Dawn French has revealed she has quit her iconic sketch show French & Saunders with comedy partner Jennifer Saunders after a sketch left her “humiliated”.
The 66-year-old actress recalled how she became the butt of jokes in the scene with singer Anastacia in 2008, before “crying all the way home” and quitting the series after a decade.
In a new BBC documentary about the duo's career, Dawn explained how the show's costume designer “fell on her back laughing” when the Vicar Of Dibley star dressed up as an American singer.
Said: “I looked in the mirror and thought, 'Yeah, that's not it, that's not what Anastacia looks like.' But instead of finding it funny, I just thought, 'Oh, I don't like that.'” .
Adding, “It just felt like I wasn't in control of the comedy.” The joke was on me. “I had no control over it in any way,”
Dawn French, 66 (r), has revealed she quit her legendary sketch show French & Saunders with comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, 65 (l), after a sketch left her “humiliated”.
The actress recalled how she became the butt of jokes in the 2008 scene with singer Anastacia (pictured) before “crying all the way home” and quitting the series after a decade
Jennifer, 65, when she first heard the story said: “[I] “I didn't know it was so dramatic that you decided to stop the whole thing.”
Dawn continued: “I hated everything about that day and said I'll never do it again. “I'll never feel that humiliated again.
“I could have just been hormonal, but I just hated it, and I had never hated it before.”
Jennifer then went on to say that her show ended “long before” the infamous TV bosses' “cancellation of everything” skit on television.
Dawn captioned the sketch showing a “young person's game” while her pal said: “We were kind of like, no one really wants us anymore and the truth is you need a break.”
“French and Saunders,” which was written by and starred the two, first aired in 1987 and was known for parodying famous films such as “Titanic” and “The Exorcist.”
It comes after Dawn revealed she is planning a return to the big screen.
Speaking on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, Dawn said she hopes the show will air in either late 2024 or early 2025 and vowed she will “fight for people to be as offensive as they want.” “.
In a new BBC documentary about the duo's career, Dawn explained how the show's costume designer “fell on her back laughing” when the Vicar Of Dibley star dressed up as an American singer
Said: “I looked in the mirror and thought, 'Yeah, that's not it, that's not what Anastacia looks like.' But instead of finding it funny, I just thought, 'Oh, I don't like that.'”
“French and Saunders,” which was written by and starred the two, first aired in 1987 and was known for parodying famous films such as “Titanic” and “The Exorcist.”
She said: “There are plans afoot.” I can't tell you much about that at the moment. But there's going to be a sitcom late next year or early next year and I'm going to be in it.'
Dawn spoke today about the state of comedy and recalled how difficult it was for her and Jennifer to bring Absolutely Fabulous to the screen.
She said, “I remember Jennifer.” [Saunders] She told me how difficult it was to put “Absolutely Fabulous” together because her characters smoked, drank, fell over and were completely unhinged.
“But you know, it all seems so mild to me now… Let's be inappropriate, let's wear purple, let's just push the boundaries a little and laugh at ourselves when we do something wrong.”
When asked if comedy has become a bit boring these days, Dawn replied: “No, because there's everything.” There's everything for everyone. I would fight tooth and nail to make people as obnoxious as they want.
'Hate? No. I think we know when something turns into a completely unacceptable incitement to hatred. I think we all know when that is the case.
“And of course it’s just not funny.” Those are the facts. It's just not funny to anyone except the one person who thinks it, who is usually out of their mind.'