Celia Imrie is relieved her only child is a son so they don’t have to compete for acting parts.
Celia Imrie is relieved that her and son Angus aren’t competing for acting roles
The 72-year-old star has son Angus, 30, from her relationship with the late actor Benjamin Whitrow and expressed her relief that she doesn’t have to deal with the “tension” of having two female performers in the family.
Celia is quoted by the Daily Mail newspaper’s Eden Confidential column as saying: “I’m glad he’s not a girl, only because we would be fighting for the same roles and that causes tension if there’s two female actors in the family.”
Angus has appeared in the hit TV shows Fleabag and The Crown and Celia is “terribly proud” of what her boy has achieved so far.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel star said: “I’m glad Angus is a whole generation younger and is in his own lane. I’m terribly proud of him.”
Celia has never been married and previously suggested that the concept is “a world of cover-up and compromise”.
She said in 2019: “[Marriage is] a world of cover-up and compromise. [I’m single and] fancy free. We used to nickname my mother Mrs Bennet [after the character in Pride and Prejudice], because she had four daughters and she wanted to get us married off. I’m the only one who hasn’t.”
Although she has never married, Celia has experienced the feeling of wanting to be together with someone all the time but explained that it is something that never “lasts”.
When asked if she’d ever felt like that, the Bridget Jones actress said: “Yes, I have, but not for long. I think that sort of love doesn’t last, that wanting to be there, it’s a kind of madness. I think it’s a good idea to hold on to yourself rather than lean on someone else.”
Celia only said that her relationship with Benjamin was romantic following his death at the age of 80 in 2017 and insists that there was no chance of the pair bringing Angus up together.
Asked about the possibility, she said: “Not really. But Ben was agreeable to our not doing that. We had a wonderful time. Angus adored his father. They were very close and I think it was all not following the rules again.”
