Joanna Page is best known for playing Stacey Shipman in Gavin & Stacey. But before she rocketed to stardom as the beloved Welsh girl from Barry, Joanna had a number of other acting roles – including one in the Christmas film classic, Love Actually.
Back in 2003, age just 23, Joanna took on the part of Judy, a body double for the film industry, in Richard Curtis’ hit Christmas romcom. Judy’s ‘job’ was to film explicit scenes with John (Martin Freeman), and so for almost every scene Joanna is in, she is either half or entirely naked. Here she tells us why that’s become a tricky situation at home, and what Christmas and New Year looks like in the Page household.
‘I absolutely adore Christmas films – The Holiday and The Nightmare Before Christmas are my favourites. Last year my eldest, Eva, kept on asking if we could watch Love Actually and I had to say, ‘We can’t, darling, it’s not suitable because Mummy’s in the nude all the way through it.’ But she’s dying to watch it.
‘I was flicking through the channels last year and it came on, so I watched it for a bit. I didn’t see any of my scenes but I’d forgotten how good the film is and how lovely it makes you feel. So I think this year might be the first year I go, ‘OK, we’re going to watch Love Actually but we’ll have to fast-forward through some of Mummy’s scenes!’
Joanna Page starred as Judy, a body double in the film industry, in the 2003 hit Christmas film Love Actually
(Image credit: Alamy)
Speaking recently to Fearne Cotton on The Happy Place podcast, Joanna revealed she has only seen the film once up to this point, and that was no less awkward. “I was sitting in a cinema next to my parents and James, and it dawned on me ‘everyone’s looking at my boobs!’, oh no, I can’t bear it.’
Love Actually aside, Joanna loves this time of year. ‘I adore Christmas. My husband James, myself and the kids landed home from Greece earlier this year, and it had suddenly got that bit colder. I said to James, ‘Oh, I’m really excited about Christmas,’ and he went, ‘For goodness’ sake, we’re still at the end of August; you can’t start saying you’re excited already!’
‘As soon as Halloween is over, it’s Christmastime – we put our decorations up on 1 November. I start my shopping in October too. Although most of the time I go into John Lewis thinking, ‘I’ll get my mum something nice,’ then I end up buying things for myself and getting James to wrap them up for me!
‘We always host Christmas and as I’m an only child, my parents come and stay with us. It’s always pretty busy because of my four kids. We might have friends round for a drink, but normally we all hunker down and then don’t appear until well after Christmas.
‘I’m not interested in cooking in any way – I hand it all over to James, but we’ll be using Bisto gravy because who has the time to be making it from scratch! My role is usually making gin cocktails, providing chocolates and crisps, and playing all the board games.
‘Looking towards a new year, I’m not really into resolutions. It always used to be ‘Don’t bite your nails’ but now I just want to embrace life, and not worry about stuff and being perfect all the time. I want to throw perfection out of the window and just be impulsive and fun. That’s my advice: embrace life and just have fun.’
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