- Emma Thompson told the "Radio Times Podcast" she got "seriously ill" campaigning for the Oscars.
- Thompson has won two Oscars for best actress and best adapted screenplay.
Emma Thompson said she got "seriously ill" while campaigning to win Academy Awards in the 1990s.
The British actor was nominated for five Oscars between 1993 and 1996, and won two.
In 1993, Thompson won best actress for "Howards End," and in 1994, she was nominated for best actress for "The Remains of the Day," and best supporting actress for "In the Name of the Father." In 1996, Thompson was nominated again for best actress, as well as best adapted screenplay, for "Sense and Sensibility," and won the latter.
In a new interview with the "Radio Times Podcast" Monday, Thompson said that she has "developed a sort of allergy" to awards campaigning after her experiences in the '90s.
"Both times I had to do the Oscars, I got seriously ill before and during it," Thompson said. "I found the pressure and glare of it too much. It's not something I like very much. It's astonishing. You go, 'Ah, ah,' and then think, 'God, I really want to lie down now and just go into a dark room, and just please don't ask me any questions or make me talk about myself.'"
She continued: "It's horrible, so I quite quickly developed a sort of allergy to all that. But it's sort of part of the job."
Thompson added that she's lucky that she's never had too popular a role that she has to hide in public.
"As for fame, it doesn't happen overnight. It's gradual," Thompson said. "And I think I'm quite lucky in that point of view. I think it must be awful if you have to deal with being James Bond or being one of those [characters which mean] you really can't go anywhere. To lose your anonymity completely."
She continued: "There really ought to be a handbook actually because it's not very pleasant for you or for the people around you. Or, if it is, it's not very pleasant for very long."
Thompson also said that she thinks fame can be a "highly toxic condition" unless you are able to stay grounded.
This year, Thompson returned to the awards circuit for her lead role in "Good Luck To You, Leo Grande," which was nominated at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.
The "Love Actually" star plays a retired British school teacher who hires a male escort (played by Daryl McCormack) in an attempt to experience her first orgasm.
The experience allowed the actor to open up about her own body image issues when she was younger and in recent years.