Joanna Lumley has admitted that she is "conscious of growing older" as she shared her views on death in a recent interview. The 79-year-old Absolutely Fabulous star, who has just released a book titled My Book of Treasures, discussed a passage by 18th-century writer Samuel Johnson that conveys the need to be "ready" for death.
Speaking to Hello! magazine, Lumley said: "One's conscious of growing older. And therefore I've got a lovely piece by Samuel Johnson, written in 1770, saying: 'I'm an old man now, so hope I get through the year and granted the grace to behave properly.' It's that general feeling that life goes by, good or bad, and no matter how old or young we are, we're all going to die, so be ready for it."
The actress also revealed that she has discussed her funeral plans with her husband, Stephen Barlow. She noted that Stephen believes a funeral has "nothing to do with you", and that the arrangements would be up to him and her son, photographer Jamie Lumley. Lumley added that she would not like a service, but appreciates a poem by Rabindranath Tagore: "Death is not extinguishing the light: it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come."
In other news, Lumley, who plays Grandmama Hester Frump in Netflix's Wednesday, recently criticised Lady Gaga's behaviour on set, claiming the singer "flew in" to shoot in Ireland "and nobody was allowed to see her." She contrasted this with George Clooney, whom she called an "utter sweetheart" for taking photos with everyone. Lumley also shared that director Tim Burton instructed her to adopt an accent that was "just not too British" for her role.
