The actor, currently appearing in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in the West End, was here to answer your questions. Find out how she learned to sing, what happened when Bill Bailey got trapped inside a piano and why Mark Heap is a nightmare to be on set with
Tamsin meets Pedro: Women on the Verge in pictures
2.08pm GMT
Nielav asks:
Is the picture of the TV industry painted in ‘Episodes’ anywhere close to reality? PS: Will we be treated to a 5th season?
It's very close. David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik who have created some of the best known American TV sitcoms (you might have heard of Friends or Mad About You) have always said that when writing Episodes, they were writing for revenge. What's wonderfully ironic is that the people working in the industry haven't recognised themselves. What's also wonderful is that the show is actually being made, so there is hope there is a quiet sense of irony alive and kicking in Hollywood.
As for a fifth season, we're waiting to hear.
2.00pm GMT
Thank you for all your questions (and some statements). Sorry I've not been able to answer more, but if you're really serious about getting answers, I can be found nightly and afternoonly on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Playhouse theatre in the musical version of Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. But you have to see the show before you ask the question.
1.59pm GMT
TheatreGuy asks:
What’s it been like working with your fellow Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown cast members?
We have an exceptionally talented bunch of women in Women on the Verge. I am overawed by their breadth of talent, knowledge, experience, and extraordinary welcome. Just by standing close to them, I'm hoping that their talent will rub off on me. There's no price on experience, but I think I may be pickpocketing from them. I think their courage to push the boundaries of musical expression is really inspiring. I've learned to sing the songs and now we're playing I'm hoping that I will learn to let the songs sing me.
1.55pm GMT
ID6816281 asks:
I thought you were rather splendid in Tamara Drewe. It’s not much of a question, no, but, um... thoughts?
How lovely. You're right, it's not much of a question. In fact, I don't believe it's a question at all, is it? However, your statement is lovingly received. That was a wonderful experience, working with Stephen Frears on the film version of Posy Simmonds' graphic novel. My character Beth witnesses her husband being trampled by a rampaging herd of cattle. This sounds really funny but as with most things that sound really funny, it was also rather heartbreaking. Stephen Frears said about the film that it was a rare bird because it dealt with the English middle classes, a section of the population who are rarely shown any interest. He also says this is probably because the middle class hate themselves. The word "middle: in itself has a whiff of mediocrity about it. But it is a delightful film because it upturns the stone most often overlooked.
1.52pm GMT
Ken Ward asks:
I love your varied areas of work. Was this an early decision to progress your career or complete luck/chance?
I feel incredibly grateful to have been offered the variety of work I have been. My agent works tirelessly to make sure that I'm not tarred with the brush of "the comic actor". Some of my most fulfilling roles have been serious: Edith Frank in the Diary of Anne Frank, Beth in White Heat, Constance in King John, DCI Maggie Brown in The Guilty. Human beings are funny and tragic, and to have the opportunity to explore both realms is a privilege.
I think we have got a fantastic array of female actors who can do both: Olivia Coleman, Julie Walters and Sheridan Smith to name but three are brilliant at bridging both realms. Weirdly, we are stuck in a contradiction. Comedy is very hard but it doesn't seem to be taken so seriously. It's interesting that comedies are very rarely put up for Baftas or Oscars. I think we are under the false impression that if something is serious, it can be taken seriously. But I don't think we need to divide the two realms. What's interesting to me is that acting is about finding the truth of a character, and good actors will do that work regardless of whether is something is labelled comedy or tragedy.
1.48pm GMT
johnnyfingers asks:
Is Mark Heap the funniest man alive?
Mark Heap is unbearable to work with. Very early on when we were making Green Wing they decided not to put me in scenes with him, because near him I cannot control myself. Even now, more than a decade on, when I am near him when filming Friday Night Dinner I have an immediate convulsive response. There are scenes in some episodes where they cannot cut round me laughing so they do actually appear in the show. I'm trying to disguise the fact, but very poorly. He is a genius.
1.46pm GMT
TheatreGuy asks:
What was it about the part of Pepa in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown that appealed to you?
I love the fact that Pepa is a woman of a certain age who seems to have arrived, and should know what's going on. She is however taken to the very edge of herself and I think for all human beings, that's a very profound place to find yourself. Looking into the abyss and deciding whether it will be breakdown or breakthrough. I love the fact that she comes to that point of choosing. When we remember we have a choice, and how we respond to things: I think that's where our freedom lies.
There are also some really good jokes in it.
1.45pm GMT
TheatreGuy asks:
Did you visit Madrid in preparation for Women on the Verge of a Nervous breakdown?
I did go to Madrid before rehearsals and prepared myself to meet with the true Spanish spirit, by going to see Real Madrid play at the Bernabeu stadium followed by a late night flamenco club. There was a very similar spirit of passion, vision, rhythm, and grace. It was brilliant.
1.43pm GMT
jimjamjames82 asks:
How many more episodes of episodes will there be? Will there be a spin off show called series or season? I expect there’ll be four seasons if there is.
Who knows? It's a good thought. Followed up by another offshoot called Box Set. And finishing with a finale called Laughing All The Way To The Bank.
1.41pm GMT
unclearleo asks:
When did you find out that Johnny Marr had his guitar tuned to open E for the rhythm part on The Headmaster Ritual? I found out about a year ago. I suppose my question is are you in favour of open tunings?
I've just found out. I'm horrified. How is that possible? I've always thought that closed tunings were the way forward. Thank you for setting me straight.
1.40pm GMT
stephenkavanag6 asks:
I’m fascinated that you played Constance in King John and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, two roles which are seemingly worlds apart, in combination with each other. Was it a really difficult juggling act, or were you able to find some common ground or overlap in terms of what these characters demanded of you as an actor? Sorry to bring you all the way back to 2006!
It was an extraordinary opportunity, when I joined the RSC for that season, to experience Shakespeare in that way. I was directed by two wonderful women directors Marianne Elliott and Josie Rourke who have both established extraordinary careers for themselves.
Constance was a heartbreaking woman, full of fire and bile, but with a necessary yearning for justice. She's actually not that far removed from Beatrice, because however comic a character Beatrice seems, she is fuelled by a cleverly disguised fire of outrage at injustice. So the two seemed different and of course they are, but there are elements of deep grief in both. In each production, what's interesting is which colours you use to reveal the grief. It was a wonderful year.
1.31pm GMT
TheatreGuy asks:
How did you prepare vocally for the part of Pepa in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?
When I was first approached to play the part I laughed and said no. But the producers went on a stealthy wooing campaign and I was given an almighty array of extraordinary artists, singing teachers, vocal coaches, musical directors, laryngeal osteopaths, and speech therapists to help me find my voice. It was quite an undertaking. So I began a year-long journey of lessons and exercises. Always thinking inside that I probably wouldn't be able to do it.
I'd never sung professionally before and the thought of singing nine songs, four of which are alone, filled me with genuine terror. And even now we're into the 80th performance, there's still a tiny voice that says: what do you think you're doing! But it's a naughty voice. It's thrilling and challenging and brings great delight to me.
1.27pm GMT
sarahgracebird asks:
What do you like most about playing Pepa?
Pepa is the part that I play in the musical version of Almodovar's film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. She is a Spanish actress who is unceremoniously dumped by her lover Ivan by leaving her a message on her answering machine, so Pepa goes on a journey to find out what's happened. And she is fuelled by confusion, rage, grief, hilarity and despair. And finally reaches a place of hope.
So it's a wonderful journey to go on, and really thrilling that a woman's story is being told in that way, surrounded by so many other great female characters on a contemporary stage. I think it's very unusual for a show to end with nine female characters singing together on stage, a song of a great hope and longing. And surely there should be more.
1.25pm GMT
sarahgracebird asks:
What is it like working with Pedro Almodovar?
Pedro is an extraordinary artist, with unimaginable generosity and vision and playfulness. He claims no ownership over any of his work, and is only delighted when the characters he brought to life initially, continue to find their ways in new outings. So it was thrilling to work with him, and to experience a little of his kindness and delight.
When he was asked why he is so interested in women, he said: when I was growing up in Spain in the 50s I was surrounded by women who made a great impression on me. They were the women who saved Spain after the civil war, so I have a great heart for women. So being around an artist who is so adept at storytelling but also has such great heart is a great privilege.
1.24pm GMT
iuaeuhgfakhfp asks:
If you were a jelly, what flavour would you be?
Lemon curd. You think it's sweet, but it's got a hefty after-twang.
1.23pm GMT
skittles100 asks:
Hi Mrs T Leaf! What would be your fantasy role? Would this role be in a movie, TV or theatre?
Somebody very dark, with no redeeming features. Somebody you can't let off the hook. I think people get confused about who they think you are, from previous roles, and from interviews. They get an impression of you. Which isn't necessarily a tiny factor of who you really are. I think there are gigantic wells of darkness in everybody, but we're not really prepared to look.
1.20pm GMT
hughtonks asks:
Did you enjoy recording the really sweary bit in the first episode of Episodes? (Because I really enjoyed watching it.)
It was actually the second episode, not that I'm a pedant. In the script it said: Beverley turns to Wallace the gatekeeper and lets out a stream of expletives that the entire thing has to be bleeped; the bleep goes on for three minutes. The writers David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik hadn't scripted anything so they asked me to improvise, and they would bleep it afterwards. However they seemed to so relish what came out of my mouth, that they decided to keep it in the show. So my first foray into writing in British television is something I can't show to any family member.
1.19pm GMT
Katerina Corbin writes:
Me and my husband only recently discovered Green wing and Friday Night Dinner- they are both fantastic. If you had to choose one outfit from Friday dinner, what would it be? I liked the piano T-shirt.
It would not be something that I wore. They were all too animal-printy. It would be Martin's cut down pixie boot wellies. Charming and practical.
1.18pm GMT
Chani Mcgrath asks:
What was the best thing about working on Black Books? I think Dylan Moran is a funny bloke, but that doesn’t say anything about in real life...
Being with Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey six days a week for six weeks. At the time I tried to pretend that the work was hard because I didn't know what I was doing, but I was a fool to myself. It was wonderful and hilarious and inspiring, especially seeing Bill Bailey trapped inside a piano with his hair stretched out across the piano strings.
1.16pm GMT
Innowaybored asks:
What is your greatest regret? What is your greatest triumph?
My greatest regret happens when I'm falling asleep every night, when I think about the time that day that I wasn't brave or kind.
My greatest triumph was a very small feeling, which came after reading a letter sent to me by a woman who was working in a medical refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. She wrote to tell me that her young son who had been traumatised by various family events, could only be comforted at night by sitting with her and watching episodes of Black Books. I don't know how she got the letter out or how she found me but I feel incredibly grateful that she took the time to write.
1.14pm GMT
PP100 asks:
Have you ever had your portrait painted?
Yes, twice. One on the Sky TV show Fame in the Frame with a really interesting artist called John Myatt, where he paints contemporary known faces into well known paintings. So he put me in a John Singer Sargent painting, and the painting isn't getting any younger, so I must be getting older.
I was also painted by Matthew Garrard, which was shown in the exhibition last year of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. It's not down the mines, but it's quite hard sitting still. But I have only the deepest admiration for people who can draw something like something actually, is and to capture the spirit and heart of a person.
1.13pm GMT
Rosie Raven asks:
What do you prefer working on? TV or theatre?
Google that, and you'll find my answer.
1.12pm GMT
Emma Sorrell asks:
I’m going to be seeing you in March and am really excited, am a huge fan, especially since seeing you in Jumpy at The Royal Court!! Absolutely amazing! Question basically is, if you could play any Shakespeare character, male or female, who would it be, and why?
I would love to do a production of Macbeth with a brilliant male actor, and me, sharing the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth so that you swap every night, or every performance.
The play is a fascinating dialogue between a male and female psyche, where the boundaries are indistinct. And I think a male and female actor could illuminate new areas of that gender dislocation, and dance. So if there are any producers out there...
1.07pm GMT
Here is Tamsin in the Guardian offices, ready to answer your questions...
11.52am GMT
Throughout the madcap sitcoms Green Wing, Black Books and Friday Night Dinner, Tamsin Greig, previously best known as Debbie Aldridge in the Archers, showed she had the chops for broad farce. She also modulated perfectly into the straight woman, set against Matt LeBlanc’s amusingly egotistical version of himself in meta-sitcom Episodes, and also in the film adaptation of Posy Simmonds’ Tamara Drewe.
She gets to flex all of these dramatic muscles as the lead in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a musical adaptation of Pedro Almodovar’s film, currently playing in the West End. Grieg’s character is another of Almodovar’s strong-willed women who grab life with both hands, even as it looks ready to wriggle away from them; she is distraught at the departure of her lover, and she rushes from pillar to post in an attempt to track him down.
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