Kristin Scott Thomas, 60, was ‘so happy’ to deliver speech about the relief of menopause on Fleabag

Kristin Scott Thomas, 60, says she was ‘so happy’ to deliver a rousing speech on Fleabag about how menopause liberates women from being slaves to a ‘cycle of pain’ to ‘just a person’ because it reflects her own experience

  • Cornwall-born actress was ‘so happy’ to deliver menopause speech in Fleabag
  • Says character Belinda’s speech reflected her own views on the issue
  • Admits she feels she’s become ‘invisible’ as she’s got older which is ‘annoying’

Kristen Scott Thomas has revealed she was ‘so happy’ to deliver her rousing speech about the menopause in an episode of Fleabag because it reflects her own feelings on the issue.

The British star, 60, appears in the second series of the BBC Three comedy as Belinda, a successful businesswoman who meets Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s synonymous character at an awards ceremony. 

The duo have a scene together in a bar afterwards, in which her character passionately informs Fleabag that the menopause is ‘the most wonderful f****** thing in the world’ because it frees women from a ‘cycle of pain’.

‘We have pain on a cycle for years and years and then, just when you feel you are making peace with it all, what happens? The menopause comes,’ she rants.

Kristen Scott Thomas has revealed she was ‘so happy’ to deliver her rousing speech about the menopause in an episode of Fleabag because it reflects her own feelings on the issue

‘The menopause comes and it is the most wonderful f****** thing in the world and, yes, your entire pelvic floor crumbles and you get f****** hot, and no one cares, but then – you’re free. 

‘No longer a slave, no longer a machine with parts. You’re just a person, in business… It is horrendous but then it’s magnificent.’

Speaking to Tom Sutcliffe on the Front Row podcast, mother-of-three Kristen said feels the same as Belinda on the issue.

She added that, like many women, she has struggled with a sense of ‘invisibility’ as she’s got older and she hopes the speech resonated with like-minded viewers.

Kristen, pictured in December last year, said she, like many women, has struggled with a sense of 'invisibility' as she's got older and she hopes the speech resonated with like-minded viewers

Kristen, pictured in December last year, said she, like many women, has struggled with a sense of ‘invisibility’ as she’s got older and she hopes the speech resonated with like-minded viewers

‘I do feel it, I just wish other people could understand – which is why I was so happy to be asked to give that speech, because it is what a lot of people feel, it’s just that it’s quite difficult to find something to replace that invisibility,’ she explained.

‘To have success, for example, as an older woman, I appreciate it much more now than I did when I was younger.

‘I just feel like I’m better at what I do now than I was when I was younger. You notice it with shop doors and things like that.

‘When you try and go through a door and people just walk straight through you. It’s little things like that, that I find really annoying.’

Kristen plays overbearing housemaid character Mrs Danvers in the recent remake of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, starring alongside Lily James in the TV adaptation

Kristen plays overbearing housemaid character Mrs Danvers in the recent remake of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, starring alongside Lily James in the TV adaptation

When Tom acknowledged that a lot of people would be ‘surprised’ to hear that happens to her, the actress – who has been nominated for five Bafta Awards and one Academy Award – insisted: ‘Well it does! 

‘I know people are surprised that it happens, but the fact is that it does… Virginia Woolf describes it absolutely perfectly, of becoming invisible. It’s not a modern thing, it is a thing!’  

Kristen plays overbearing housemaid character Mrs Danvers in the recent remake of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, starring alongside Lily James in the TV adaptation. 

Appearing on the Graham Norton show last month, she admitted: ‘I had no idea I was so frightening. 

‘I couldn’t understand when people kept saying, “Kristin Scott Thomas, she’s a bit frightening,” and it turns out she is! I did enjoy it – it was great fun.’ 

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