Cherie Lunghi
![Cherie Lunghi](/assets/img/authors/cherie-lunghi.jpg)
Cherie Lunghi
Cherie Mary Lunghiis an English film, television and theatre actress, known for her roles in many British TV dramas. Her international fame stems from her role as Guinevere in the 1981 film Excalibur. Her long list of screen, stage and TV credits include football manageress Gabriella Benson in the 1990s television series The Manageress and a series of adverts for Kenco coffee. She also competed in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing. She is the mother of the actress...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth4 April 1952
There isn't anything I don't eat, although I'm not too keen on creepy crawly things. Other than that, I'm quite adventurous. I like all types of red meat, and I'm not a fussy eater at all.
I am simply not such a slave to my vanity, and I don't want to be, because as you get older you really have to start accepting the inevitable.
Be yourself - it's the inner beauty that counts. You are your own best friend, the key to your own happiness, and as soon as you understand that - and it takes a few heartbreaks - you can be happy.
I grew up in a very political household. My mum used to shout at the television. At Mrs. Thatcher.
It's a bit of a headache being a perfectionist. You're never satisfied.
I had my appendix removed in my 20s. I was in the middle of a play with Helen Mirren at the Royal Court Theatre, a fabulous career break. Then two weeks in I began suffering the most horrendous pain and had to pull out. Sadly, by the time I'd recovered, the show's run had ended.
I really enjoyed staying at an encampment at the top of a hill in the Samburu Reserve in Kenya. You reach it on a small plane; there is no electricity, no city noises and you sleep and shower under the Milky Way, with moths fluttering around a kerosene lamp, knowing that there are elephants and lions roaming free in the valley.
I tried Botox, but I don't want to be hooked on that stuff.
There's something about 'Strictly Come Dancing.' Everywhere I go, people wish me good luck; cabbies toot their horns. It's lovely. I have a theory: in straitened times, there's nothing like a bit of unapologetic escapism.
Whitley Bay was my first experience of the seaside. I'd buy my bucket and spade, and beach ball, and all the shops were teeming with toys. I used to spend hours on the shuggy boats.
I have done so many love scenes in the past that I have learned how to pull off a sexy smoulder on the dance floor.
I try to live my life as honestly as I can, and the last thing I want is to pretend to be something I'm not. To pretend to myself I am a sex symbol would somehow be dishonest. I'd feel, in my heart, that I were behaving artificially and that's the last thing I want to do.
The advantage of age is that you swap youth for wisdom. You're so full of insecurities when you're young. 'Who am I? What do I have to do for people to like me?' You get caught up in things. You get very emotional about things.
At the beginning of my acting career, I worked for two seasons at the RSC and spent a lot of time in the Cotswolds exploring Shakespeare's countryside. It's my kind of English landscape, with its tiny villages and one-room thatched pubs.