The BBC sitcom first broadcast in 1992, introducing viewers to Jennifer’s PR character, Edina Monsoon, and her boozy magazine editor friend, Patsy.
Joanna told Graham Norton: “It was very awkward at the read-through. It was just the two of us and she just stared at me. I told my agent I didn’t want to do it and she said, ‘It’s just a pilot, just do it…’”
Jennifer added that initially Joanna was not ‘what I had in mind for Patsy’.
“I saw her as a low-life journalist,” she said. “But Joanna brought so much more to the role and we had fun inventing the character.”Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie will be released on July 1 and features a number of big-name celebrity cameos from the likes of Kate Moss and Mad Men’s Jon Hamm.Jennifer said: “The funny thing was I had sold the idea of the movie to the studio and the BBC and then realised I hadn’t actually asked Kate. Luckily she said yes and was really cool about it.”
Graham with all of his celebrity guests (Ian West)
Australian actress Rebel Wilson, who also has a cameo in the film, said she wrote a letter to Jennifer begging her for a part.She told Graham Norton: “I had hoped to be Patsy’s long-lost child – the one she forgot she’d had!”
American singer Iggy Pop, 69, spoke about retiring, saying: “I will step back at some point. Another album would be a big undertaking from an old git like me!”The Graham Norton Show is on BBC One at 10.55pm