Editor’s Note: Oscar-winning actress and friend of wowOwow.com Emma Thompson is currently starring in "Brideshead Revisited." Here, she joins us for an exclusive Q & A and talks about working with the new wave of heartthrobs, how she developed the character of Lady Marchmain, her future plans and more.

wOw: We’ve heard that your performance in “Brideshead” as Lady Marchmain is Oscar-worthy and to expect a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Does that sound about right?

Emma: I think it’s always best not to expect a nomination just in case the inevitable happens: You don’t get nominated and you have bought a frock.

wOw: Your Lady Marchmain glitters with the nuances of class and religion, as you play an aristocratic Catholic. How did you get is so right? Do your own experiences feed into your portrayal of this character?

Click here for photos from "Brideshead Revisited."

Emma: The first thing I did was to ring the Vatican. Always go to the top, that’s what I say. Then I booked an appointment with Prince Charles. He gave me some very useful tips on aristocracy; always keep your elbows close in while eating was one of them, because you’re often on a table with lots and lots of people and rather squashed. OK, I’m kidding. For myself, I’m much close to Charles Rider, and would certainly be considered a heathenish middle-class upstart.

wOw: There’s been some controversy surrounding the screenplay. As someone who’s adapted books to screenplays, what do you make of changing Evelyn Waugh’s book to fit it into two hours onscreen?

Click the play button below for a sneak peek at "Brideshead Revisited."

Emma: Adaptation is always a nest of wasps; however gently you handle it, you’re going to get stung. In fact I have much more trouble adapting a very short children’s book with hardly any plot than I did with Sense and Sensibility, which had 135 characters and a truckload of plot.

wOw: The 1982 miniseries version of "Brideshead Revisited" was 659 minutes long — that’s eleven hours. How do you fit all of that into just more than two hours for this new version?

Emma: You don’t. What Jeremy had to do was tease out and dramatize those parts of the book that he wanted to explore. He did it brilliantly and I think the film is a wonderful companion piece to the book.

wOw: And you’re starring alongside some up-and-coming young men – Matthew Goode and Thomas Morrison, to name a couple. What is it like acting alongside the next wave of new heartthrobs? Have leading men begun to change?

Emma: It’s hell. They’re all so lovely, funny, talented and gorgeous that you start to flirt with them like a whippet and then suddenly catch sight of yourself and realize you are 85 years older than most of them.

wOw: Harry Potter is among your recent films. What is it like to be part of the huge Harry Potter phenomenon? And did it make you believe in magic?

Emma: It’s great fun because the whole thing is like a huge extended family and the wizardry involved is all to do with the fact that they have managed to make seven of these films without killing each other.

wOw: Do you let your husband and daughter see all of your movies? You’ve done a couple of children’s movies recently — besides "Harry Potter" there’s "Nanny McPhee." Is this something that started to interest you more after you had your daughter?

Emma: My husband and daughter couldn’t be less interested in my movies, and I started writing "Nanny McPhee" four years before my daughter was even thought of. There is the new "Nanny McPhee" coming up next year, which I’m very excited about because I love writing for families.

wOw: You have such a history of picking elegant and witty characters to play. What is next in your collection of roles? I know you’re involved in several other films coming up: “An Education,” “Last Chance Harvey” and “The Boat That Rocked.” What’s in store for us?

Emma: In "An Education" I play a savage and anti-Semitic headmistress; in "Last Chance Harvey" I play a middle-aged, rather ordinary woman who falls in love and in "The Boat That Rocked" I play a nymphomaniacal ex-sex symbol with no morals and a drinking habit.

Guess which one’s the closest.

wOw: Beyond that, what are you planning? Will you be screenwriting again anytime soon?

Emma: Before we start shooting "Nanny McPhee," I will be in Los Angeles and New York with an installation about sex trafficking, called Journey.
I’m also writing the new screenplay for "My Fair Lady."

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Miramax Films, UK Film Council and BBC Films present in association with Hanway Films, 2 Entertain and Screen Yorkshire, an Ecosse Films Production; A film by Julian Jarrolf; Casting by Priscilla John, CDG; Music by Adrian Johnston; Hair and Makeup Designer: Roseann Samuel; Costume designer: Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh; Editor: Chris Gill; Production Designer: Alice Normington; Director of Photography: Jess Hall; Line Producer: Rosa Romero: Executive Producers: David M. Thompson, Nicole Finnan, Tim Haslam, Hugo Heppell; Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh; Written by Andrew Davies and Jeremy Brock; Produced by Robert Bernstein, Douglas Rae, Kevin Loader; Directed by Julian Jarrold.