Sally Phillips: ‘I thought Miranda was never going to work’
The star revealed the sweet reason she still wanted to be involved with the show.
Sally Phillips has revealed that she was wary about appearing in the comedy show Miranda.
The 54-year-old actress, who’s set to appear in a new show called Austin, has been known for her impeccable comedic appearances in TV and films for decades after appearing in Bridget Jones, Smack the Pony, and Veep.
Despite her enormous success in various comedy shows, when asked if any roles required her to follow her gut, possibly against the advice of others, she said: ‘Yeah, I did with Miranda Hart’s show.
‘But not because I thought it was going to be a success, because I read that and I went, “That’s never gonna work but she’s a lovely girl and, you know, she needs a break, sure. No problem.”‘
The show was, of course, a huge success and saw Sally play Miranda’s school friend Tilly, best known for being posh and coming out with one-liners such as ‘Bear with!’
The sitcom ran from 2009 until 2015 and was nominated for several Baftas during its run.
The show starred Tom Ellis as Gary, Sally Phillips as Tilly, Miranda Hart as Miranda, Sarah Hadland as Stevie and Patricia Hodge as Penny (Picture: BBC)Sally added that although many comedy shows seem to be fun to shoot, more often than not, the humour is lost after several hours of filming.
‘I mean, lots of comedy shows aren’t a laugh actually. Midsomer Murders, you have more of a laugh, but comedy shows are quite serious about being funny and not being too indulgent.’
Fortunately for Sally, filming her new heartwarming series Austin was in fact a ‘genuine laugh’.
‘This is genuinely loads of fun, and it feels new and fresh. And for me personally, I’m really happy to be able to – with my job – do something that I believe will make the world slightly better for my child.’
Sally has three sons from her marriage with Andrew Bermejo, and her eldest son, Olly, has Down syndrome and autism.
Austin also stars Ben Miller, 59, and Love on the Spectrum star Michael Theo, 31, who is neurodivergent – something which is key to the plot.
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Previous Page Next PageThe series follows Julian (Ben), a newly-cancelled author on a book tour in Canberra, who discovers that he has a 28-year-old son named Austin, mid-book signing.
The season develops with Julian attempting redemption as he and his wife, Ingrid (Sally), get to know Austin, who has tracked down his father in hopes of forming a connection.
The eight-part comedy series was initially released in Australia in the summer of 2024 and is finally coming over to the UK.
The actress explained that she felt this representation of disability on screen was incredibly necessary right now.
‘I think disabled representation, it’s definitely been the poor cousin of race and gender. Also, disability hate crime is the one hate crime that is rising,’ she said.
‘And I really firmly believe in the power of especially television, weirdly, more than cinema, because with TV, you’re turning up in people’s homes.’
The trio make up the key cast in the series (Picture: ABC)She added that the producers endeavoured to hire a neurodiverse team, and emphasised that there was no change in the on-set experience.
‘Ben’s wife Jess was producing, and she tried to get a neurodiverse crew as much as possible. So we were like, “Oh, this is so exciting about the neurodiverse crew.” The difference? None,’ she recalled.
‘So either all crews are neurodiverse anyway, or it’s just not such a big deal. Folks, news flash, it’s just not such a big deal.
‘So we’ve been excluding people for no good reason, assuming that things will be less professionally done.’
Sally continued: ‘I think that’s what’s so great about this, hopefully, people can just enjoy it as a comedy show. It’s not trying to be woke. It’s just trying to be entertaining. And Michael is a comic genius.’
Sally plays Ingrid in the new series (Picture: ABC)Michael was invited to be a script consultant on the show and spoke to crew members about some of his real experiences with bullying to enhance the script.
The actor commented: ‘The suggestions I made as a script consultant were to suggest things that I would say, instead of what was in the script.
‘I would suggest alternative ways to phrase something and make other suggestions in terms of what could be done.’
The actor added that he hoped that the role might help people see him as more than just the character he played on screen.
‘I’m hoping that Austin will make UK audiences enjoy a show that is from overseas, but also portrays neurodiversity in a positive light and does not display stereotypes, and is something that everyone can enjoy for any age.
‘But also show people that I’m more than just Michael from Love On The Spectrum because I really want to be more than that.’
Austin is coming to BBC One and Player on April 4.
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