The Way I Am ‘I'm Still In The Acting Game, So I Must Be A Success!'

Lesley Nicol, 66, who stars as Mrs Patmore in Downton Abbey, shares her passions and memories. She lives in LA with her husband Da’aboth

- Jane Oddy

What is your earliest acting memory?

I read a comedy poem, Matilda, by Hilaire Belloc at school when I was 11. As a child I was cripplingly shy and would hide behind my dad, so he was in the audience thinking, “Why are they doing this to her?”. And then I got laughs. Then more. That was a total light-bulb moment in my life. I suddenly felt I had a tiny bit of power, people praised me, and they had never done that before. It was amazing, and I couldn’t get enough of it. My dad was pretty blown away, too. Over the years, he always supported me. When I was in the stage musical Mamma Mia! [in 2002], he came to see the show 35 times and became known as Grandpa Abba by the company. Sadly, he never saw me in Downton Abbey – it started a year after he passed away – but he would have loved it.

Did you have a plan B for your career?

I didn’t! Acting was the only thing I was good at, and that’s the truth. I wasn’t slow at school, but wasn’t really interested in studying. I was telling jokes and eating sweets most of the time. As a child I briefly had a flirtation with being a nurse and then, after my first plane trip when I was 13, I wanted to be an air hostess. It seemed so glamorous. But

I realised that with both jobs, it was only because of the uniform and the dressing up. My dad was a GP, and the best gig I ever had was working at his practice one summer in reception, and I wore a white coat. I loved it. That’s all I was there for!

When are you happiest?