Where this was said
The Victorian Penis Sketch and the Sense and Sensibility Oscar
At 50:42 · chapter starts 50:40
Will notes that Emma is credited as the writer of Sense and Sensibility — something both he and Sean genuinely did not know. Emma corrects them gently: she adapted it, Jane Austen wrote it, and she 'plagiarised mercilessly'. But the real revelation is how the commission happened. [1] — Emma Thompson "A feminist sketch Emma Thompson wrote about a Victorian woman encountering a penis for the first time led producer Lindsay Doran to ask her…" 50:50 Emma wrote a feminist comedy sketch about a young Victorian bride returning from her honeymoon baffled by a 'small woodland hairy creature' in her husband's lap that 'changes shape'. The sketch was about sexual ignorance — the fact that women in that era were married off without any knowledge of sex whatsoever. Producer Lindsay Doran, who began her career with Spinal Tap, saw the sketch and wrote to Emma saying: 'I've seen your sketch about the Victorian penis. I wonder if you would fancy adapting a Jane Austen novel.' Emma called it an 'interesting segue'. She said yes, gave it a go, and eventually took home an Academy Award.
A feminist sketch Emma Thompson wrote about a Victorian woman encountering a penis for the first time led producer Lindsay Doran to ask her to adapt a Jane Austen novel. The result: an Oscar-winning screenplay.
Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning Sense and Sensibility screenplay came about after a producer saw her feminist sketch about Victorian sexual ignorance and invited her to adapt a Jane Austen novel.
Emma Thompson has spent a decade writing the Nanny McPhee musical with composer Gary Clarke, aiming for a Victorian steampunk, Tom Waits-meets-dark-circus sound. It is finally coming to the West End.
