“Don’t try to be perfect, just be honest.” They’re words once given to Dawn French’s character in her new sitcom Can You Keep a Secret?, and they resonate with the seven-time BAFTA TV Awards nominee, both onscreen and off.
Back in her one-woman show Dawn French Is a Huge Twt*, the actress spoke candidly about mistakes she’s made. “And of course, those are the funniest times,” she tells HELLO! in an exclusive new interview. “That’s the best. That’s the best when you are vulnerable, and you unzip a bit, and you show people where you have been a fool. Because we’ve all been fools. If we’re trying to be perfect, I don’t know how to relate to perfect people. There’s no such thing.”
“I’m always on the lookout for, ‘Oh what’s all about this person? What’s the vulnerability here? What’s the kindness and where’s the strength and where’s the honesty?’ and I live my life like that,” Dawn adds. “I used to get up on stage every single day and talk for two hours about being an idiot, so I’m absolutely not worried about not being perfect.”
Comedy works best when people let themselves be imperfect, just ask Dawn. “The more we foray into that, and the more we embrace it, the funnier it is,” she says.
“If you look back to things like Fawlty Towers, the funniest characters are the bullies, the vain, the idiotic, the ones who [are] not so bright, you know, Blackadder. All the best British comedies are full of fools and we are all fools,” she laughs.
In her latest British comedy, Can You Keep a Secret?, Dawn portrays Debbie Fendon, a grandmother who fakes her husband’s death for the insurance money. It’s a role unlike one she’s taken on before.
“I’ve never played a character like this before, so overbearing and controlling and domineering and all things I hope I’m not,” she says, before whispering: “But probably I am.”
Dawn actually thought that sitcoms were behind her prior to being pitched Can You Keep a Secret?, which was written by the son of a friend.
© Alistair Heap/Big Talk Studios/BBC/Paramount+“I literally did not want to do another sitcom,” The Vicar of Dibley alum admits. “Really good sitcoms are rare, aren’t they, and I feel I’ve been involved with a few, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ve had my quota, so this is unlikely to be good,’ but I really loved it.”
And being able to bring her latest project, Can You Keep a Secret?, to an American audience via Paramount+ has been a “bonus” to her decades-spanning career. “I’ve had a very blessed career in [the UK], and I feel very fortunate to have had that and a very full life doing everything I want to do,” Dawn says.
Although she’s “really glad the reach is happening,” Dawn never felt she would fail if it didn’t. “I’ve never felt that,” she states.
At this stage, Dawn, who turns 69 in October, only wants to play characters her own age, but doesn’t think she’s “ever really stopped being about five years old when it comes to dressing up and pretending to be somebody else”.
“I’ve done it ever since I can remember, and I did it for the delight of myself and of my family,” Dawn shares.
© Alistair Heap/Big Talk Studios/BBC/Paramount+While her excitement for acting started “as a family thing” a long time ago, the actress notes that it also “keeps the bullies away”. Dawn explains: “If you can sharpen your wits, you can defend yourself pretty easily. With some happy, jolly sarcasm… if your rapier is nice and sharp, you can keep people at bay, and you can put your point across without having to get into a really robust argument.”
Looking back on her career, Dawn took a risk starring in the sitcom Roger & Val Have Just Got In, which she absolutely loved, but all the work she’s done with her pal Jennifer Saunders stands out as some of her proudest moments.
Yet, when she defines what success means to her, it’s more about laughter for Dawn. “I think if I can put my head on my pillow and have a giggle at what I’ve done that day, and think, ‘Well, somebody’s had a laugh,'” the Murder Most Horrid star says, “especially now, while our world is so upside down, it’s absolutely vital that there’s comedy and comedy to puncture and to mock and to highlight and to mimic, but also just to escape into utter silliness.”
“There’s nothing wrong with childlike at all,” Dawn continues. “If part of you cannot quite grow up, I think that’s the best thing ever.”
Can You Keep a Secret? premieres February 12 on Paramount+
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