‘Playing Under the Piano’ by Hugh Bonneville

My Review (5 stars out of 5)

British actor Hugh Bonneville is a familiar face to audiences all over the word for his roles in Notting Hill, the Paddington films and Downton Abbey. Charting his rise to stardom from nativity play to the heights of Hollywood, he recounts the highs, lows and day-to-day life of being an actor, as well as the heart-breaking reality of dealing with his father’s dementia.

One of the things I really liked about this book is the actor’s willingness to bare all about his years in the business, whether working with the likes of Dame Judi and Robert Niro, to ranting at his agent about the lack of decent roles. The audiobook is read by the man himself and as you’d expect, he does it brilliantly. Listening to his antics and heartaches, I went through a range of emotions from laughing hysterically to crying my eyes out. He also does some marvellous impressions of his fellow actors and his account of working with Dame Maggie Smith prompted me to (finally) get around to watching Downton Abbey, which, of course, I loved.

By turns, a highly entertaining, hilarious and heart-breaking book.

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