Joanna Lumley worried about "letting down" other BAFTA Fellowship winners.
The 71-year-old actress received the prestigious accolade in May and is honoured to be regarded in the same way as past recipients, including Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier and David Attenborough.
She said: "I looked down the list and thought: ‘Oh my gosh, mustn’t let them down.’ "
Though the trophy has pride of place in her home, the ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ star admitted her previous three other BAFTA awards have her name hidden on the back because she prefers to have them on display looking like "little statues".
She explained to The Sun newspaper’s TV magazine: "I’ve got four of my little faces sitting around the house. One’s in the bathroom, another’s in my study.
"When you receive one for acting, the little name plaque comes separately, because they don’t know until it’s announced who’s won it. I like to glue it on the back because they look like little statues without anything on the front.
"But when your Fellowship comes, it’s on the front. That is sitting quite tactfully and subtly in the drawing room."
Despite an acting career spanning over 50 years, Joanna insists things haven’t always been easy, but she attributes a lot of her success to plan luck and seizing her chances.
She said: "Oh, the unemployed time, God. Months without work, praying for the phone to ring. There were dark days, darling. Days when you think, ‘How can I get a job?’
"The breakthrough was getting ‘The New Avengers’ [in 1976]. After that, I never didn’t work. I’ve been lucky, lucky, lucky. But you’ve got to grab the luck when it comes your way."
But the veteran star admits her work ethic has also played a part.
She said: "Work bloody hard. And be up and ready half an hour before everybody else. I still pretty much live like that."
Joanna Lumley didn’t want to let down BAFTA Fellows
