Dawn French, 68, has opened up about the emotional and philosophical questions that arose as she wrote her book Enough, a darkly humorous reflection on aging and mortality. Speaking with Good Housekeeping, she revealed the profound worry she feels for her grandchild’s future in a world she describes as ‘hopeless’ and ‘broken.’

Concerns for the Next Generation

‘My grandchild has this innocent belief that life is wonderful, but I feel extremely troubled by everything,’ French said. She questioned the kind of legacy future generations would inherit, noting, ‘It seems we’ve learned nothing about war and torture. Nothing about being kind to each other. Nothing about saving the planet. If anything, we’ve gone backwards.’

French also commented on the impact of pornography and societal pressures on young people. ‘The way sex is represented in porn is not attainable or attractive to me,’ she said. ‘Lovely, rather wobbly, sweaty, smelly, rather awkward stuff is what I’m attracted to. I love flawed things because we’re all flawed. There’s so much pressure on young people today, in every area.’ She contrasted this with her own upbringing, saying she never had to ‘learn to take a photo of myself from above so you can’t see my chin or so that you can see my tits.’

New Animated Role

French is also making waves in the world of animation with her role as the grandmother of the main characters in the animated series Tales from Outer Suburbia, based on the illustrated anthology by Shaun Tan. The third episode, ‘Distant Rain,’ will screen at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Known for her work in French and Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley, French praised the surreal and adventurous nature of the character she plays.

‘The grandmother is incredible. She’s brave and adventurous, quite chaotic, a bit mad. What attracted me to the character,and to the whole project—is that it’s possibly the strangest thing I’ve ever read,’ she said. ‘It’s very surreal: you understand it on a visceral level, but you also ignore it, so you’re drawn to try to make sense of things that are slightly surreal.’

West End Return with Jennifer Saunders

Later this year, French will reunite with her longtime comedy partner Jennifer Saunders on the West End stage for the first time in 17 years. The duo will star as the ‘ugly sisters’ in the 2026 Cinderella pantomime at the London Palladium. The production marks the 11th season of the Palladium Pantomime, which continues to grow in scale and boldness each year.

French and Saunders said in a joint statement: ‘We wanted to play the ugly sisters for so many years that it feels like a dream come true,a dream we’ve wished for with all our hearts. Watch out. It won’t be pretty.’ The production will also feature Julian Clary, Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers, and Rob Madge. Michael Harrison, the show’s producer, praised the previous season’s record-breaking performance and expressed excitement about the upcoming cast.