As an actress, Emily Mortimer has played many memorable roles—a struggling actress, in Lovely & Amazing, and a hard-charging journalist, in The Newsroom. Now she has brought her writing and directing talents to Amazon Prime Video with the three-part BBC series The Pursuit of Love, an adaptation of the Nancy Mitford novel. Herewith, she shares her key components to the good life. —Ashley Baker
Airline: Any that requires vaccinations and never crashes!
Airport: Heathrow.
App: If there was a “how to lose weight while eating delicious food all the time” app, that would be my idea of the perfect one.
Appliance: Egg cup. Is that an appliance? All I know is there aren’t enough of them in America.
Attitude: “Sassy and generous.” That’s my 11-year-old daughter’s advice on how to be in this world.
Bedtime: Eleven p.m., but I always fail to stay awake that long. My actual bedtime is more like 8:30 p.m., and it’s not in bed; it’s on the sofa. I can’t stay awake past the opening credits of literally anything.
Bike: A rickshaw, or a bike that someone else is pedaling.
Birthday: October 6.
Breakfast, weekday: Boiled egg and toast soldiers.
Breakfast, weekend: Fried eggs and bacon.
Car: I had a 60s Saab in original Saab green when I was at college. My mum sold it when I went to Moscow for my study year abroad, because I’d left it illegally parked on a double yellow line. I would love to retrieve my lost car.
Cocktail: Negroni.
Cocktail appetizer: Lay’s potato chips.
Date:
My husband. A boring answer, but an exciting date.
Disguise: I would love to be able to disguise myself as a very confident but kind—sassy and generous—woman of the world.
Dress: Lady Di’s wedding dress.
Escape: A movie theater.
Excuse: My dad used to say, “Tell them I’m dead.”
Friend: One who will check you for ticks in embarrassing places, like Dolly Wells.
Good-bye: The Irish one.
Insult: “You look like a toe.”
Jacket: Vintage Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo jacket.
Last Meal: Ravioli.
Movie: Calamity Jane.
Nonfiction book: Robert Frank’s The Americans.
Novel: Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.
Pair of pants: The trousers to go with that Yves Saint Laurent jacket.
Piece of advice: “Always remember to line yourself up with the next boy before you get rid of the one before.” That was my father’s only advice to me growing up.
President: Jimmy Carter.
Restaurant: Brasserie Lipp, in Paris.
Saying: I like this old Victorian saying: “Kissing a man without a mustache is like eating an egg without salt.”
Shoes: Brogues.
Singer: Dolly Parton.
Spice: Sporty Spice.
Television series: Fawlty Towers, and I also like this reality show called Tiny House Nation, where people design their own perfectly customized homes.
Time of day: Early in the morning, before all the disappointment sets in.
Toast: Whole grain with lots of butter.
Vacation: Anywhere in Italy.
Wake-up time: Six a.m.
Emily’s Essentials
