Absolutely Fabulous star Kathy Burke's brutal five-word reason for quitting career

Kathy Burke announced her retirement from acting in 2022, admitting she was "bored" with the profession after an illustrious 40-year tenure. At 60, the Absolutely Fabulous actress chose to step away from the spotlight and pursue a directing career.

Kathy discussed her fading passion for acting: "When I used to work as an actor, you just talked about your own character."

She further stated, "You didn't really have input on anybody else. I thought, 'This is so f***ing boring.'" Kathy elaborated on her departure by saying: "I just found that quite ludicrous, which is one of the reasons I wanted to stop being an actor."

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However, Kathy put an end to her brief hiatus with a comeback to cinema in Steve McQueen's 2024 project Blitz, taking on the role of Beryl – a "lovely and horrible" mob boss. Kathy opened up about her decision to return, stating that the opportunity to collaborate with McQueen was one she "couldn't say no" to.

"I've just always been fascinated by Steve McQueen and a great admirer of him," she commented. Following their meeting, Kathy added, "I sort of felt I couldn't say no to meeting him.", reports the Express.

Despite not initially wanting to engage in another film role, she conceded, "I didn't think I'd be interested in taking part... But we had a really lovely cup of tea, and he didn't realise I was of Irish heritage."

"He nearly got a slap, for not knowing that, where have you been, you know? And then he basically said, 'Look, we're doing a little table read in about half an hour. Can you come along? ' And I thought, yeah, why not? I listened to the film being read out loud and I just loved it. It reminded me of being a kid.

"It's one of them films... you've got George [Elliott Heffernan] taking us all the way through the story. If I [watched it] when I was 10 years old, it would make me want to work in film."

Before Blitz, Kathy's last film appearance came in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, where she reprised the role of Magda. It was on November 12, 1992 when viewers first watched the iconic British sitcom, which also stars Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha.

Following its conclusion in 1996, Ab Fab was revived for two more series and two one-hour specials from 2001 to 2004, before the cast returned for the film in 2016.

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