Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page has revealed how she once shared a kiss with Johnny Depp – before breaking wind in front of him. In an exclusive interview with HELLO!, the Welsh actress describes how the Hollywood heart-throb moved in for a smooch when they were both starring in the 2001 blockbuster From Hell, a horror film about Jack the Ripper. "I don't usually go for pretty boys, but I remember him walking across the set towards me in this black wig, and I've never seen anybody look more beautiful; he was absolutely stunning," recalls Joanna, 48, whose autobiography Lush! is published this week. "That evening, we all went for a meal together and he came and sat next to me. He had the most gorgeous, long, hazelnut hair and I remember thinking: ‘He's got hair like Jennifer Aniston.’ And then he tried to talk to me, and I couldn't talk to him; he was too good-looking. So I ignored him all night.
"At the end of the evening, he said, 'Can we give you a lift?' and when we were standing outside the hotel, he slid his arms around my waist, and then he slowly kissed me on either side of my lips. I was in a trance, because he was just beautiful. Then I ran upstairs, phoned my mum and started screaming, 'Johnny Depp just kissed me!'"
However, the next day, when they were filming a scene in which Joanna played a prostitute who had just had a lobotomy, she accidentally passed wind in front of him. "Johnny said, 'Oh my God, who's farted?' And I should have just gone, 'It was me, I was getting into character and getting into it.' But I just looked around going, 'Oh yeah, gosh, who's farted?'" she recalls.
I was in a trance, because he was just beautiful. Then I ran upstairs, phoned my mum and started screaming, 'Johnny Depp just kissed me!'
The actress, who plays Stacey opposite Mathew Horne's Gavin in the top-rating BBC show, also recounts her nude scenes with Martin Freeman when they played body doubles in the Christmas classic Love Actually. "You feel so exposed and so cold, but it's insane how in such a short period of time, you become incredibly used to it," she says. "It's just like being on a nudist beach, or streaking up the Mumbles seafront, which I've done on many occasions. And it does make me laugh how my parents always say, 'It's not Christmas until we've seen you in Love Actually,' and I say, 'It's not Christmas until you've seen me in the nude.'"
Gavin and Stacey goodbye
Last year's Gavin and Stacey Christmas special - the last ever episode - pulled in 20 million viewers, breaking the record for the most-watched scripted show. Mother-of-four Joanna, who is married to Emmerdale actor James Thornton, says she cried throughout filming but adds that her co-stars will always be like family.
"We've got a WhatsApp group called Christmas is Occurring, and whenever one of us is doing a play, we all go to see it and support each other, and we stay in touch and get together for drinks. If you get a few of us together, people normally do a double take," she says. "Mat and I are so used to each other that I didn't ever really think about how I was going to play the scenes with him. I just stood there, opened my mouth and it just happened. We really did become like a family, and they completely filled my heart. I will love all of them for the rest of my life. It was such a unique experience, and a job that filled me with joy and laughter and love. I love Ruth and James for what they did and what they gave me and how my career changed. We were a group of people who came together and the chemistry worked.”
* Lush! My Story – From Swansea to Stacey and Everything in Between is out on 25 September, published by Sphere.
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.