Thompson won an Oscar for her starring role in the period drama Howard’s End, but when she learned her friend Hayley was playing the same character she advised: “Don’t watch my performance!”
Hayley, who starred as Peggy Carter in the hit Avengers fi lm series, will take on the role of feisty Margaret Schlegel in a four-part BBC adaptation of the EM Forster novel about two strong-minded sisters, starting tonight.
Emma, 58, played the role in the1992 Merchant Ivory film.
Hayley, 35, said: “I spoke to Emma about it. She has been a mentor to me for a number of years. She said, ‘Don’t watch mine! No, no, you must never do that. You are she and she is you.”
Hayley described the veteran actress as “an amazing woman who has really influenced my life”.
She recalled that after being cast in Miramax movie Brideshead Revisited, Hayley was told by an executive to lose weight.
Her co-star Emma told her to ignore the advice, saying, “You’re not a model, you’re an actor.”
It has since been reported the executive was disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.
Howard’s End was written in 1910 and tells of families crossing Britain’s class divides and gender inequality.
The BBC remake also stars Matthew Macfadyen, Julia Ormond, and Tracey Ullman.
Howard’s End, tonight, BBC One, 9pm.
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