Dawn French details 'frightening' impact of Covid-19 as work 'disappeared in one morning'

This year has been tough on many of us, with coronavirus preventing us from seeing out loved ones and putting us out of work. Dawn French, like millions of us across the nation, felt the full wrath of workplace fear as the pandemic forced gigs and filming to be cancelled and put on hold, all of which disappeared in one morning, something she described as nothing short of “frightening”.

In a recent interview, the comedian revealed that her full diary of gigs and upcoming filming all disappeared in one morning.

She recalled: “It was very frightening – 18 months of work disappeared in one morning.

“Some filming went, some theatre work and touring, but we’ve pencilled it in at the end of next year.”

Dawn admitted she’s likes to keep a full diary for peace of mind.

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Director and co-writer Richard Curtis decided to keep the other cast members alive but off-screen, but Dawn told Radio Times about how upsetting it was to speak about Emma again.

“Of course, as Geraldine is talking about Alice, I’m talking about Emma, so it wasn’t easy,” she said.

“It was very emotional.”

The tribute appeared to take its toll on the actress as she confessed it took her multiple times to film.

She told the Mirror that she hasn’t been able to watch the episode back, adding: “Along with all the silly, funny stuff, there is a moment where we pay tribute to Alice and that was not easy to film.

“Honestly, I had to do it seven times.