Entertainment
BBC star recalls ‘crazy’ meeting with cut-throat LA exec who said to ‘f*** your friends’ on road to stardom
Emma Sidi, one of the stars of new BBC show Starstruck, has recollected a ‘crazy’ meeting she once had with a callous executive in LA who encouraged her to ditch her friends to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry.
Starstruck, a new rom-com series co-written by Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden, stars Rose as Jessie, a woman living in East London who sleeps with a man called Tom (Nikesh Patel) after a night out… only to discover that he’s a famous film star.
Rose’s real-life housemate Emma plays Jessie’s best friend Kate, a character with ‘a real innocent naïveté’ who encourages Jessie wholeheartedly to pursue this unexpected romance.
Emma, who’s previously starred in TV programmes including W1A, Stath Lets Flats and Pls Like, told Metro.co.uk about surreal experiences she’d had in the world of showbusiness, crossing paths with ‘larger than life’ individuals in America.
Her experiences drew parallels with the portrayal of Tom’s unsympathetic agent in Starstruck, played by Academy Award nominee Minnie Driver.
‘I actually once came across this guy, this sort of older exec, who knew my dad… one of these really distant people who maybe went to school with my dad or something. And he said, “I’d love to have a meeting with you Emma. I live in LA,”’ she said.
‘So I had this meeting with him, and he said to me, “So, I’m thinking, I’ve got a movie idea. You’re going to play your mum, and Tom Hardy’s going to play your dad.” And it was just like, my dad hasn’t had a very interesting life. It was just the craziest meeting of my life.’
But things got even weirder when the exec made an off-the-cuff remark that Emma should uproot her entire life by moving across the Atlantic Ocean.
‘He actually said something really crazy as well, he was like, “You need to move to LA, today.” And I was like, “I don’t think so, I’m living in London with my best mates, I don’t think I’m going to do that.” And he said to me, “Emma – f*** your friends.”’
Completely taken aback by the exec’s suggestion, Emma remembered thinking to herself that she’d rather ‘do British comedy for now’… and making a hasty exit.
‘I’m not saying everyone in LA is like this, but you meet larger than life characters that you just cannot believe exist. And then there’s a lot of people in LA who talk about those guys as well and say they’re crazy,’ the comedian explained.
On another occasion, Emma was in a restaurant with an agent who spotted the head of Sony sitting at another table and beckoned the boss to come over and meet her, much to Emma’s embarrassment.
‘He was like calling her over and was like, “Come and meet Emma Sidi!” And she was like, “I’m good.”’
Because of course, what better way to make an introduction than by shouting across a crowded restaurant?
Hailing from Woking in Surrey, Emma said that she found the ‘strange American directness’ of the situation ‘really amazing’ to witness.
But it’s something Minnie has been able to accurately convey in BBC’s Starstruck in a scene where she meets up with her client Tom for a catch-up, she added.
‘I think Rose has really captured that essence in Minnie Driver, and obviously Minnie Driver has as well,’ Emma stated.
While one might imagine living and being best friends with your co-star and the writer of your TV show might be tricky, for Emma and Rose, they found that they were ‘really good at keeping the personal and professional separate’ while making Starstruck.
The pair met while both performing at Edinburgh Festival in 2016, going on to star in W1A with each other before moving in together in 2018.
After sharing one work-related tiff a few years ago, the friends realised that ‘we can’t let the professional ever get in our personal life’, Emma recalled.
‘I think any friend or partner you work with, finding that balance is like the most important thing to the survival of that friendship I think,’ she said.
‘It’s kind of cool, because I feel like we’ve been there as well. We’ve been in the “let’s sit down and work this out” stage of a friendship. You’ve got to fight to love.’
Starstruck is set to launch on Monday April 26 at 10.45pm on BBC One, with the entire series being made available on BBC Three on Sunday April 25.
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