Inside Amandaland star Lucy Punch's wild life off camera with a famous partner, terrifying evacuation ordeal and a very varied CV as she returns to screens with hit BBC comedy
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As the infuriating yet somehow loveable Alpha Mum Amanda in Motherland, viewers would often see Lucy Punch's character get herself into the wildest of situations.
And away from the cameras, it seems Lucy's life is equally as thrilling with the actress hitting the headlines for her various escapades.
This week, viewers rejoiced as Lucy reprised her famous character in new BBC show Amandaland, with the Motherland spin-off going down a treat with critics.
In the comedy, Amanda is extremely image-conscious, desperate to give off the illusion of being the perfect mother and businesswoman.
Yet in reality, Lucy confesses she is far from perfect, previously telling The Mail she has no idea how working mothers make their lives 'look normal.'
Lucy shares Rex, nine, and a three-year-old son whose name has not been revealed, with artist Dinos Chapman, and admitted she struggles with 'juggling' life.
As Alpha Mum Amanda in Motherland, viewers would see Lucy Punch's character get herself into the wildest of situations and now she's landed her own spin-off, Amandaland
Away from the cameras, it seems Lucy's life is equally as thrilling with the actress hitting the headlines for her various escapades (pictured with partner Dinos Chapman in 2017)
‘[Motherland] is so relatable and familiar to everyone who’s ever been there,' she mused in 2019. 'There’s all the juggling with work and childcare, and there’s always that perfect mother – often there are one or two. I secretly wish it was me.
'They’re perfectly turned out with perfect children, but no one can really be like that, without any flaws, can they?’
She admitted that even as she was filming the series, she was living an imperfect life.
'My home’s in America, but when I was filming I stayed in London with my son and enrolled him in a different school.
‘He was jet-lagged and not sleeping, so I was rattled and exhausted. I was in the perfect mood for the show. I’m fascinated by how other working mums do it and look so normal.'
More recently, Lucy was left fearing for her family's safety after being caught up in the horrendous Los Angeles wild fires.
The actress revealed she was forced to evacuate when the fires took hold and while her home miraculously managed to avoid being destroyed by the flames, she confessed she is torn on whether to stay put or to return to her native London.
Opening up about the ordeal that has hit Los Angeles, she told the The Times this month: 'It was shocking and devastating for a lot of friends. It’s like imagining east London flattened - schools, neighbourhoods just gone. How do you get that back? It’s going to be years and years.'
She also told how she has ensured her partner and son, who remained in LA have their belongs packed in case they needed to 'run out the door again', after the family were forced to escape to Joshua Tree desert last month.
While Lucy's career looks set to reach new heights as the leading lady in Amandaland, viewers will likely be familiar with the actress' work over the years (pictured in 2007's St. Trinian's)
The TV star added that the fires combined with the recent voting of Donald Trump into office, she is now considering whether to quit the US after almost 20 years as she told how she's struggling to 'commit' to a place.
Lucy, who moved to LA in 2006, shared: 'I’ve always got one foot out the door, wherever I am. I never got round to getting a green card. I’m on these rolling visas, which is ridiculous: I have a home there and I have two American children. But I can’t commit to anywhere. I get itchy feet. I like being a little bit here and a little bit there.'
Elsewhere, Lucy - whose character Amanda suffers a dramatic fall from grace as she navigates her single status, acid-tongued mother and the challenges of raising two teenagers - went on to detail how school mum life in the states compares to that in London.
When asked if the school-gates culture is similar, she remarked: 'Oh, absolutely. And the WhatsApps are off the scale — they are insane. I’d say they are probably 50 per cent Amandas. Everyone’s very glossy.'
However, she was rather relieved to learn that none of her fellow LA mums watch Motherland as she noted that the British trait of moaning about ones kids 'might not go down too well'.
Lucy lives a private life with partner Dinos, formerly half of the modern art duo, Chapman Brothers.
Also known as Konstantinos, Dinos began working with his brother, Iakovos, professionally known as Jake, in 1991 with the two going on to build a portfolio of shocking works over the course of their career.
Their work, which included incarnations of hell, Nazi, Freudian, apocalyptic, and Biblical themes, earned them a nomination for the Turner Prize in 2003.
The British actress lives in LA alongside her visual artist husband, Dinos and their two children - though the family recently had to vacate their property in the fires (pictured in 2015)
Many of their works were of plastic models of fiberglass mannequins of people. One early piece displayed 83 scenes of torture and disfigurement derivative of those recorded by Francisco Goya, in his series, The Disasters of War.
In 2008, they produced a series of works that appropriated original watercolors by Adolf Hitler.
However, in 2022 the brothers decided to end the partnership and pursue solo careers, with Jake confessing the pair had 'disdain' for one another.
Dinos was previously married to Tiphaine de Lussy with whom he had two children with. They split in 2014 and he then struck up a romance with Lucy.
The creative nature of the couple's jobs can make childcare difficult, with Lucy admitting the two have to divide childcare in 'a very mismanaged, chaotic way'
While Lucy's career looks set to reach new heights as the leading lady in Amandaland, British viewers will likely be familiar with the actress's work over a series of decades.
Over the years, Lucy has played roles in dozens of productions including Hot Fuzz, Bad Teacher and St Trinian's.
She began life in Hammersmith, London and later attended the prestigious private school, Godolphin and Latymer School, before heading to University College London to study history.
But it wasn't to last, with the star quickly realising her true calling and she promptly dropped out of university to pursue a career in acting.
Also known as Konstantinos, Dinos began working with his brother, Iakovos, professionally known as Jake (left) in 1991 with the two going on to build a portfolio of shocking works
As a teenager, she always shared an interest in the arts and had performed at the National Youth Theatre between the ages of 16 and 19. She took on her breakout TV role in The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1998.
She later had a role in Let Them Eat Cake, a BBC sitcom starring Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, that aired in 1999. Shortly after, she managed to bag roles in episodes of Poirot and Midsomer Murders as well as a part as a receptionist in Doc Martin.
After several years of steady jobs in both TV and film - bored of being cast as 'posh idiots' - Lucy ended up moving to LA during the early 2000s, where she was given a role in the comedy show, The Class.
However, work began to dry up, leaving the actress questioning whether she really wanted to pursue the vocation. Her mother even suggested she consider becoming a chiropodist - a specialist in prevention of foot disorders.
But things took a positive turn for Lucy when in 2009 she was cast in Woody Allen’s 2010 film, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, after Nicole Kidman dropped out.
In the film, she took on the role of Anthony Hopkins' gold-digger girlfriend Charmaine, delivering scene stealing performances while radiating in a platinum blonde wig.
She previously described the role as life changing. 'Getting that was a huge endorsement. I still had to audition for things, but the feeling was ,"If she's good enough for Woody…,"' she told The Guardian.
While she said the role was 'fun', Lucy revealed in a later interview that she hadn't enjoyed having to 'wear these tiny outfits' and watch what she ate. 'That side was really, really boring,' she told Vulture.
She will star opposite TV legend Joanna Lumley (pictured) in a spin-off to the hit Motherland - but the programme will give Lucy's infamously irritating character, Amanda the spotlight
In an interview with The Independent last week, the actress described the project as a 'failure' in hindsight - despite having previously called it 'life changing'.
'There are plenty of [personal regrets] that I don't want to actually resurrect and talk about. My list of failures? I did a film with Woody Allen, a very long time ago, and I'd been out of work for a long time before I got that,' she told the publication.
'That really changed my life, getting that job, because I was ready to pack it all in. It's difficult to say that now because of all the stuff that's happened around him since then.'
Nevertheless, she said she remains 'proud' of what was one of her breakthrough films.
Since then, she has taken on a string of TV and film gigs across both sides of the Atlantic, including the 2010 film Dinner for Schmucks with Steve Carrell and A Little Bit of Heaven with Kate Hudson.
She also took parts in a number of films alongside big industry names, playing alongside Joanna Lumley in Ella Enchanted and Simon Pegg in Hot Fuzz.
Lucy also previously credited her part in the 2010 film Bad Teacher, with being responsible for her progression in the industry.
Reflecting on the role in 2011, Lucy told You Magazine that the role 'changed everything' for her.
In Woody Allen's 2010 film, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, the actress took on the role of Anthony Hopkins' gold-digger girlfriend Charmaine
Lucy previously admitted the conservative wardrobe that came with the role offered much needed respite from other roles in which she'd be cast as tight-dress wearing love interests.
She said she relieved not to have to 'worry about fitting into miniskirts and tossing around in high heels and tons of makeup and looking fake-y attractive.'
Over the course of her career, Lucy has played a grand total of four evil step-sisters. In 2014 she took the part alongside industry heavyweights Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp in the Disney Adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical.
Reflecting on her archetypal role of unlikable women, she The Guardian at the time: 'I was always playing witches and crazy women.'
She added: 'When I was 11, I had an Ugly Sister birthday party. All my idea.
'Most girls want to be a fairy or a princess, but there I am with beauty spots and fur and fluorescent pink kiss-curls. When I told my mother about Into the Woods, she was like, "Oh darling, not again".'
More recently, Lucy has performed in a handful of British sitcoms, including Motherland and the BBC medic show, Bloods in 2021.
Often typecast as the vexatious blonde, the actress admitted she was relieved to play a 'respected' woman.
Discussing the role at the time, she said: 'It was nice to play someone that I respected, a capable, practical woman who is fantastic at her job. But when you see her with him, she's in freefall.
'She's a woman in her 40s, who is so used to being in control, and then loses it and is just… melting.'
She spent three seasons working on the BBC show Motherland - written by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz and Barunka O'Shaughnessy
But it's not to say the actress doesn't appreciate her characters.
In a recent interview, Lucy told The Independent: 'I've always liked people just verging on the grotesque. Not to be friends with, of course, but just to observe.'
A sentiment she previously reiterated in 2021 when she told The iPaper: 'I have played... A lot of b***hes and witches and ugly stepsisters.'
The theme prevailed for Lucy who went on to take on the role of the super posh and polished Amanda, who was queen bee of the school yard platoon, much to the envy of her rival mothers.
She spent three seasons working on the BBC show Motherland - written by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz and Barunka O'Shaughnessy - alongside Diane Morgan, Anna Maxwell Martin, Oliver Chris and Tanya Moodie.
After the series came to a close in 2022, it was revealed that there would be a spin-off of the show with Lucy taking on the lead role opposite Joanna Lumley, who is returning as Amanda's cruel mother, Felicity.
Speaking to The Times, Lucy sang the praises of her co-star, who joined her as her onscreen mother in Ella Enchanted in 2004.
Lucy said: 'I love Joanna so much. Occasionally I’m worried what my mum’s thinking. But truthfully, Joanna would be my second choice of mother. I’ve already got a lovely, perfect mum. Joanna’s a solid, definite number two.'
Lucy Punch's famous roles
Amandaland - 2025
Now, Lucy is the star in a new spin-off, Amandaland, where she spotlights as a post-popular yummy-mummy struggling to cope with a divorce - all while navigating the new surroundings of a less affluent part of town.
A synopsis of the show reads: 'With both Manus and Georgie now at secondary school, Amanda has to try and get her head around raising teenagers, dealing with modern motherhood horrors like teenage drinking, fake Instagram accounts and eco anxiety.
'Not even a woman as certain of her parenting as Amanda can deal with these nightmares alone.
'Then there's Amanda's mother Felicity who is constantly around, and completely in denial that she is, in fact, lonely.'
The series follows the once-socialite Chiswick mother who has had to downgrade to more meagre property in Wormwood Scrubs, south Harlesden.
In Amandaland she spotlights as a post-popular yummy-mummy struggling to cope with a divorce (pictured with Philippa Dunne and Joanna Lumley)
Battling a new divorce, Amanda will rebrand as an interiors influencer, with the Instagram handle @Senuous - all the while trying to re-establish her social status in the 'cool' parent gang.
The move to misery is one Lucy said she is pleased with - with Amanda finally becoming a 'relatable' character.
Even her co-star, Joanna Lumley, who she described as a 'second mum', has a more palatable character in the new series. 'She was much crueller in Motherland, more nasty and villainous,' she said.
Speaking to The Times, Lucy insisted she is a million miles away from Amanda, who though slightly spiteful, boasts enviable levels of organisation and togetherness.
'Unlike Amanda I'm disorganised and I'm not good at juggling. I've got two balls, one in each hand. That's it, that's as much as I can manage,' she said reflecting on her own parenting style.
The show will be Lucy's first act as lead role. Describing the anticipation in the run up to the show's debut, the actress admitted she wasn't letting herself 'reflect' too much in case she started to 'freak out'.
She told The Independent: 'I haven't thought about it too much, otherwise I'd have freaked out a bit. I've never been front and centre; I'm used to playing a supporting character, and I like that. It's less pressured.'
Motherland 2020-2022
Lucy (far right)was one of a start studded cast including, Diane Morgan, Anna Maxwell Martin, Oliver Chris and Tanya Moodie, in the hit BBC series, Motherland
Lucy was one of a star studded cast including, Diane Morgan, Anna Maxwell Martin , Oliver Chris and Tanya Moodie, in the hit BBC series, Motherland.
The show was written by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz and Barunka O'Shaughnessy.
Lucy played the hilariously self-obsessed mother, Amanda, in the hit series, which explored the trials and tribulations of raising a family in middle-class suburbia - from competitive children, to motherly rivalry and the grimier sides of parenthood.
Amanda is as outrageously loathsome as she is beautiful and organised.
One of Lucy's opening lines to a fellow mother is: 'You work so hard, I really admire how you can just switch off your family and focus on your job because I would just hate myself too much.'
Speaking on why she loves playing terrible people so much in a recent interview, Lucy told The Independent: 'Smugness and self-satisfaction and ego alongside massive insecurity, they make an interesting mix.
'I've always liked people just verging on the grotesque. Not to be friends with, of course, but just to observe.'
Reiterating the sentiment, she told The iPaper in 2021: 'I have played... A lot of b***hes and witches and ugly stepsisters.'
Bloods - 2021 - 2022
In 2021, Lucy was given a role in the Sky comedy, Bloods, where she plays Jo, a hub commander of paramedic unit (pictured with Julian Barratt)
In 2021, Lucy was given a role in the Sky comedy, Bloods, where she plays Jo, a hub commander of paramedic unit in south London .
Jo is totally humourless and a hard as nails ex-army medic.
But despite her cold exterior and strained patience with most of her team, she harbours a hopeless crush on a grieving colleague, Lawrence, played by Julian Barratt.
Discussing the role at the time, she said: 'It was nice to play someone that I respected, a capable, practical woman who is fantastic at her job. But when you see her with him, she's in freefall.
'She's a woman in her 40s, who is so used to being in control, and then loses it and is just… melting.'
A Series of Unfortunate Events - 2017
In 2017, Lucy portrayed the evil Esmé Squalor in the second season of Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events (pictured next to Neil Patrick Harris)
In 2017, Lucy portrayed the evil Esmé Squalor in the second season of Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events.
She joined alongside Neil Patrick Harris, who played the villainous Count Olaf.
The series follows the - aptly named - unfortunate events of the three Baudelaire orphans, who are being hunted for their fortune by various evil characters.
Lucy appeared as one of Count Olaf's theater troupe who have their hearts set on nabbing the Baudelaire fortune.
She got to flex her muscles as a devilishly evil theatre player, who got to roll off scandalous lines like, 'If we give money to poor people, they won't be poor anymore and we won't have anyone to feel sorry for.'
Into The Woods - 2014
Lucy took on the role alongside industry legends, Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp in the Disney's Into the Woods (pictured with Christine Baranski and Tammy Blanchard)
Into the Woods was one of four films in which the actress was cast as an Ugly Sister.
She played one of three stepsisters, taking on the aptly named role of Lucinda.
Lucy took on the part alongside industry heavyweights Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp in the Disney Adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical.
Reflecting on her archetypal role of unlikable women, she The Guardian at the time: 'I was always playing witches and crazy women.'
She added: 'When I was 11, I had an Ugly Sister birthday party. All my idea.
'Most girls want to be a fairy or a princess, but there I am with beauty spots and fur and fluorescent pink kiss-curls.When I told my mother about Into the Woods, she was like, "Oh darling, not again."'
Bad Teacher - 2011
The newly earned status landed her a role in 2011 comedy Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz (left) and Justin Timberlake
Doors began to open for Lucy after she starred in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, with high-earning blockbusters now at her at her fingertips.
The newly earned status landed her a role in Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake.
Reflecting on the role in 2011, Lucy told You Magazine that the role 'changed everything' for her.
Lucy played an angelic but prudish tutor, Amy Squirrel, who competes for the affections of Justin Timberlake - Scott - against the foul-mouthed Elizabeth Halsey, played by Cameron Diaz.
Lucy previously admitted the conservatively-clothed role offered much needed respite from other roles in which she'd be cast as tight-dress wearing love interests.
She said she relieved not to have to ' worry about fitting into miniskirts and tossing around in high heels and tons of makeup and looking fake-y attractive.'
'We're competing for Justin, and in any other universe that would be absurd. I certainly wouldn't want to be competing with Cameron Diaz in the vamping department,' she explained.
At the time, her career was just beginning to take off - but she admitted her pay packet wasn't evidence of this.
She told You: 'Every movie I've done, when they cast me they knew I'd probably do it for a toffee apple and a Frappuccino. Everyone assumes you must be making a fortune, but I'm still driving around in my bashed-up Honda Civic.'
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - 2010
In Woody Allen's 2010 film, the actress took on the role of Anthony Hopkins ' gold-digger girlfriend Charmaine (pictured with Naomi Watts and Woody)
In Woody Allen's 2010 film, the actress took on the role of Anthony Hopkins ' gold-digger girlfriend Charmaine. She delivered scene stealing performances in the film, donning huge platinum hair, fake nails and everything in between.
Lucy reportedly bagged the role after Nicole Kidman dropped out.
Reflecting on the news that she had landed the part, Lucy told the iPaper in 2021 that she had immediately relayed the exciting news to her friends and family - eagerly telling them she was going to star in a Woody Allen film called 'Wasp'.
'I was told, when Woody feels like the film is going to be really good, he likes to give a really short, punchy title like Scoop, or… Wasp. Of course, months later I found out that stood for Woody Allen Summer Project and that the film was going to be called, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, which was the biggest mouthful,' she told the publication.
She previously described the role as life changing. 'Getting that was a huge endorsement. I still had to audition for things, but the feeling was ,"If she's good enough for Woody…,"' she told The Guardian.
While she said the role was 'fun', Lucy revealed in a later interview that she hadn't enjoyed having to 'wear these tiny outfits' and watch what she ate. 'That side was really, really boring,' she told Vulture .
In an interview with The Independent last week, the actress described the project as a 'failure' in hindsight - despite having previously called it 'life changing'.
'There are plenty of [personal regrets] that I don't want to actually resurrect and talk about. My list of failures? I did a film with Woody Allen, a very long time ago, and I'd been out of work for a long time before I got that,' she told the publication.
'That really changed my life, getting that job, because I was ready to pack it all in. It's difficult to say that now because of all the stuff that's happened around him since then.'
Nevertheless, she said she remains 'proud' of what was one of her breakthrough films.
Dinner for Schmucks - 2010
Lucy played Darla in the 2010 film Dinner For Schmucks starring Steve Carrell.
Her character was a corset sporting tight-legging donning blonde bombshell who is obsessed with the main character in the film.
The film was a remake of Francis Veber's 1998 French movie, Le Dîner de Cons, and boasted big Hollywood names including Paul Rudd, Bruce Greenwood and Ron Livingstone.
The comedy follows a sadistic dinner party game that all ends in disaster.
Lucy played Darla in the 2010 film Dinner For Schmucks starring Steve Carrell
Hot Fuzz - 2007
She was famously decapitated in Hot Fuzz after she and her lover, Martin, were both both murdered by the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance
Lucy Punch was cast as Eve Draper in the cult-classic Hot Fuzz alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
She was famously decapitated in the British blockbuster after she and her lover, Martin, were both both murdered by the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance.
Their heads were lobbed off and garishly left rolling about in the road in the film - with Lucy admittedly only nabbing a short moment of screen time.
St Trinian's - 2007
Lucy starred in the beloved teenage film following St. Trinian, a school for young women, is on the verge of bankruptcy
The beloved teenage film follows St. Trinian, a school for young women, which is on the verge of bankruptcy.
But desperate not to see their school shut down, soldiering students make a master plan to rob a priceless painting and use its revenue to save the institution.
It was based on the works of cartoonist Ronald Searle - and was a remake of former favourite movies series that was filmed between 1957 - 1980.
In the film, Lucy plays Verity Thwaites, the Minister's daughter, and Cheltenham's school bully.
She starred alongside Talulah Riley, Juno Temple, Colin Firth, Stephen Fry and the singer Paloma Faith.
Ella Enchanted - 2004
Lucy found her calling as the lookalike to Joanna Lumley when she was given a role as her daughter in Ella Enchanted (pictured alongside Anne Hathaway)
The doppelganger of Joanna Lumley, Lucy finally found her calling as the close look-alike to the actress when she was given a role as her daughter in Ella Enchanted in 2004.
The film was loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name and followed a fairytale story of Ella of Frell, who was bestowed the gift of 'obedience' as a newborn and battles evil siblings - all while seeking the affections of Prince 'Char' Charmont.
One of her four stints playing an Ugly Sister, Lucy played Hattie, one of Ella's cruel stepsisters who is obsessed with Prince Charmont.
She joined a star studded cast including Anne Hathaway, Steve Coogan, Heidi Klum and Joanna Lumley, who played the evil stepmother to the protagonist, Dame Olga.
Let Them Eat Cake - 1999
The British sitcom that aired on BBC One in 1999 and was one of the few programmes in which French and Saunders have both appeared which they did not create themselves
Lucy took on the role was Eveline de Plonge in the short-lived Versailles-set French and Saunders series, Let Them Eat Cake.
The British sitcom that aired on BBC One in 1999 and was one of the few programmes in which French and Saunders have both appeared which they did not create themselves.
