Amandaland icon Philippa Dunne breaks down in tears as she recalls being 'desperate to fit in' as a teen and says she almost quit acting due to 'relentless rejection' before landing role of Anne

Amandaland star Philippa Dunne has emotionally revealed how she feels connected to her beloved character Anne, after a childhood spent desperately trying to fit in.

The actress, 45, has played Anne across the hit BBC series Motherland and its spinoff Amandaland for ten years, but has admitted she landed the role at a vulnerable time in her life. 

Anne is the loyal and long-suffering sidekick of Amanda, played by Lucy Punch in the shows.  

Speaking about her character in a heartfelt conversation on Josh Smith's Great Chat Show podcast, Philippa explained: 'I really related to where Anne's really trying to make friends with the rest of them, and she's just very awkward and no one's giving her the time of day.'

'I always say that Anne is like a 13-year-old me - really desperate to fit in, really wants to be liked, trying really hard to be friends with everyone.' 

"Does anybody like me? Do I fit in anywhere? Will anyone ever accept me just for being me?" That was the most personal for me… I think you have to know tragedy before you can do comedy. '

'Comedy is a skill - you learn to either fit in, or to cope with a stressful situation, or to make friends. And I remember thinking in school, "I'm not really making many friends here. Maybe if I learned a few jokes and I cracked a few jokes in front of the kids, they might like me".'

Philippa broke down in tears at this point, before insisting that 'one of the hardest things to do in this life is to be 100% yourself, because the world sometimes doesn't want you to be yourself, because you might be very sensitive.'

'You might be a nice, gentle soul, it’s very hard to be a nice, gentle soul out there in the world because people take advantage of it.' 

'People laugh at you for being soft or whatever it is. I think it's hard to stick with who you are and just be yourself 100%. And I think that's our job on the planet is to just be you.'

Philippa said that the role of Anne came at a time when 'not a lot was happening for me at all.'

She explained how she was trying to branch out on her own, writing her own material and just 'dying for the opportunity. Doing handsprings into every audition and doing every tape and just getting nothing.'

'I would every so often go, "that's it, I can't do this anymore. It's too difficult,"' she said. 'You give so much of yourself away. The rejection is just relentless.'

'Once a month I'd have this talk with myself and go, "I can't do it anymore. I'm out." But by the end of that week, something would come along that would just keep me going a little bit longer. And Motherland was very much one of those things.'

'It was just, "hey, come in and do these few lines and it's just a pilot." And I was like, "absolutely." And then getting series one, getting series two — I remember thinking, "oh my God, I've got work for two years. Bonkers."' 

Amandaland was recently renewed for series three after the second instalment received rave reviews.

The second series of the BBC comedy series, which also stars Lucy Punch and Joanna Lumley, was branded a 'triumph' by viewers and critics when it aired last month. 

The Motherland spin off follows the demise of snooty Queen Bee Amanda (Punch), who has moved from a lavish life in well-to-do Chiswick to becoming a single mother in the less-than-desirable South Harlesden - which she christens 'SoHa'. 

The show picked up a BAFTA TV Award for Best Scripted Comedy in May. 

Both Philippa and Lucy were up for the Best Actress in a Comedy prize, alongside Jennifer Saunders, who plays Aunt Joan in the show, but all three lost out to Katherine Parkinson, for her performance in Here We Go.

Listen and watch Josh Smith's Great Chat Show on Spotify or YouTube.