Joanna Lumley says young people need to understand it’s a ‘tough old world’

‘You’ve got to be ready, resilient, brave... and humble,’ actor said

Joanna Lumley is worried about the younger generation’s work ethic and feels they need to understand “it’s a tough old world”.

In a new interview, the 76-year-old British actor said that before she landed her breakout role as Purdey in the 1976 two-season drama The New Avengers, she “was humble as can be, just desperately trying to get work”.

“I think this is a new thing. People thinking: ‘I couldn’t possibly! Why should I make the tea and coffee? Why should I wait after hours and do the unpaid work?’” Lumley told the i newspaper.

“I’m afraid the answer is: that’s the way to do it. I’m afraid that’s how it works. We’ve got to try to get the young to understand that it’s a tough old world. It’s lovely, but it’s tough. You’ve got to be ready, resilient, brave… and humble. You’ve got to understand that the world can do very well without you. Without any of us!”

The James and the Giant Peach actor explained how she was persistent in her dream to become an actor. After becoming a single mother at 21, she sent correspondences to 52 theatres asking for work.

“It wasn’t as though I was demanding leading parts as an actress. I said I could do anything. I could be a dresser, or make tea, or be an assistant stage manager. I was humble as can be, just desperately trying to get work,” Lumley said.

“People today see me getting jobs, thinking I walk into things, they don’t realise how tough it was back then.”

Joanna Lumley pictured in 2019 (Getty Images)

While Lumely said she was eager to “do anything”, she made sure to steer clear of “horrible blue films”.

“Everybody was offered those in the late Sixties when anything went,” she added.

It was later, when she was invited to feature as one of “Blofeld’s Lovelies” in the 1969 James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, that her career took off.

Years later, she went on to lead The New Avengers as a former ballerina retrained in the art of Savate (a French kickboxing combat sport), alongside the late Patrick Macnee and the late Gareth Hunt.

Lumely’s role in the British spy series propelled her to worldwide fame and even inspired the 1970s “must-have” hairdo – the Purdey bob.