Lucy Punch is resigned to being mistaken for Amanda, the vain, pretentious, ‘loathsome’ (her word) though oddly endearing yummy mummy she plays in the BBC sitcom Amandaland, which is a spin-off from the hugely successful Motherland and returns to screens next month.

She is regularly told by teenagers that they have ‘an embarrassing mum’ just like her. People often shout ‘AMANDA!’ at her in the street. She even found herself drawn into a national psychodrama earlier this year, as a clip of Amanda gyrating in Motherland became a stand-in for the infamous dance that Victoria Beckham reportedly performed at her son Brooklyn’s wedding.

‘I was honoured. Flattered!’ she hoots as she recalls the ‘barrage’ of texts she received when the meme went viral. Lucy, 48, is not only a virtuoso of mum dancing – she has a truly impressive vocal range, and a collection of facial expressions worthy of Aardman.

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‘To be compared to the icon that is Victoria Beckham! I can only imagine how delighted she would have been to have her dance moves compared to mine…’ She is careful to add she only later discovered the unhappy backstory of the Beckham feud. 

All the same, the moment proved that Amanda has permeated the national psyche. ‘I’m so surprised and thrilled at how people have responded to it,’ she says. ‘If they want to think I’m like Amanda, never mind!’

I suspect that if she had to do regular school runs in England, the novelty of people shouting ‘AMANDA! DO THE DANCE!’ might wear thin. In fact, Lucy moved to the US in the mid-Noughties and spends most of the year in Los Angeles, where she lives with her partner, the artist Dinos Chapman, and their two boys, aged ten and four, in the backwoods bohemia of Laurel Canyon.

In person, Lucy is nothing at all like Amanda. Well, she has the same poise, platinum hair and posh London vowels. But she is also warm, funny and self-aware.

She sees herself as a comic actor – in fact, she describes a disastrous audition she once did for the psychological TV thriller Damages – in which she tried to play it straight. ‘It was very serious. And at the end, they were all laughing and clapping and telling me I was hilarious. They said, “Obviously you’re completely wrong for this but thank you for making us laugh!” I wasn’t doing it on purpose!’

Still, she stresses Amandaland was far from a sure-fire hit – and she should know, having had her share of duds (she once revealed that during one career low she would have considered playing a cheesy Dorito in a Dorito advert). When we first met Amanda in Motherland in 2016, she was the villain of the piece – an immaculately put-together queen bee with perfectly behaved children, much resented by the other mums.

In Amandaland, though, Amanda has lost her social status – she is separated from her wealthy husband, bullied by her mother (wonderfully played by Joanna Lumley) and attempting to ingratiate herself with the other secondary school parents.

The first series was a major hit, earning five-star reviews, with the 2025 Christmas special taking the top comedy spot with 7.4million viewers. Last month, the show began trending on Netflix’s top ten chart, days after dropping on the streaming giant. Meanwhile, Lucy has scooped a nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy at next month’s Bafta Television Awards.

Amanda’s anxieties are particularly well suited to our Insta-aspirational, downwardly mobile times. ‘People are struggling now,’ says Lucy. ‘Things were easier and better not that long ago so a lot of people can relate to Amanda on that level. But her story has expanded, too. We see how she is bullied by her mummy, we see the inherited vanity and ego, and it explains things a bit more.’

Life for Amanda isn’t what she expected, but it’s her determination to put a brave face on her humiliating circumstances that ultimately redeems her.

‘She doesn’t stop trying and I think that’s a very admirable quality,’ says Lucy. ‘Amanda does have a heart, sort of, and a conscience – and she does love her kids. She’s not lazy. I don’t like lazy people; I admire her hard work.’

Lucy grew up in Putney, south-west London, the daughter of Michael and Johanna, who both worked in marketing. She attended the fee-paying Godolphin and Latymer school and was a committed show-off: dancing, putting on magic shows for her parents and staging elaborate performances.

She was also obsessed with TV, lapping up sketch shows like The Fast Show and French And Saunders. Kathy Burke was a particular comedy touchstone. ‘I just listened to her audiobook. Oh my god, I love her. Even when she’s talking about stuff that’s dark, there’s so much optimism.’

Another heroine is Joanna Lumley, who is utterly delightful as Amanda’s awful mother in Amandaland. ‘She’s 80 this year. And the thing is, you forget. She doesn’t look it and she doesn’t act it. The way she conducts herself with everyone – she is everything you’d hope. She’s gorgeous all the time. She’s very smart. She doesn’t suffer fools. She’s a complete inspiration.’ 

Working with both Lumley and Jennifer Saunders on the recent Christmas special was a surreal moment. ‘My teenage self would have been going, “AAAAAAARGH!!!”’

Still, it wasn’t the first encounter.

One of Lucy’s first screen roles came in Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders’ historical sitcom Let Them Eat Cake in 1999. She dropped out of a history degree to take on the role, though in the event it proved a misfire.

Similarly, in 2006, she landed what looked like her breakout role in the glossy US sitcom The Class. But the show was cancelled after one season, leaving her feeling ambivalent about the whole business of fame.

‘That was surreal. My mum’s got a picture of me standing in front of a huge billboard of The Class and I look so mortified and embarrassed. I felt exposed and just thought, “I don’t want my picture on buses!”’

Surely this is precisely the sort of thing an ambitious young actor has in mind when they head to Hollywood? ‘I did! But that side of it – it surprised me. It felt so intrusive, like a bit of me had been taken away.’

She remains equivocal about Hollywood. She is only there on rolling visas – although she has a role as an uber-wealthy, hypercritical wife in AMC’s vicious Silicon Valley satire, The Audacity, which has already been renewed for a second series – and says she still feels like an outsider even after 20 years (her brother lives in New York and her mother lives in Sussex). ‘I love British self-deprecation and humour. When I’m back here, I’m, “Ahhh. Thank goodness!”’

Despite her good humour, Lucy is guarded and her discomfort whenever I veer away from acting is palpable. I ask if she feels she has to be careful what she says under Donald Trump’s regime. ‘I don’t want to talk about that!’ she says. ‘It’s so inflammatory at the moment.’ She gives a nervous laugh.

Then I try asking about her partner of 12 years Dinos Chapman. Along with his brother Jake, he is famous for artworks that revel in scenes of suffering and depravity, and sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds. I mention to her that I once interviewed the brothers at their studio. ‘Oh, that’s good!’ she says. ‘How was it?’

I recall that Jake did most of the talking. We discussed the nature of human evil in front of dioramas of torture and sculptures of children with genitals on their faces. I wrote in the article, ‘Dinos, who reminds me of Dennis the Menace’s pet Gnasher, says little, but his expression suggests he might just weld a penis on to your back when you’re not looking.’

She laughs. ‘Oh, wow. Well, we’re both quite reserved.’

She does say, though, that Chapman is extremely supportive of her work. ‘He was even more thrilled than I was by how well it did. He’s so proud. And likewise, I am a huge fan of his work.’

She is particularly protective of their two boys – whose names she politely declines to share. If there is a parable to be drawn from the Beckham story it is to do with the dangers of thrusting your children into the spotlight without their consent.

Lucy is opposed. ‘It’s privacy, isn’t it? They don’t have a choice. It’s different when they’re older but for now, it’s not my place to make that decision for them. It’s my place to protect them.’

It sounds like they all have a pretty lovely life in Laurel Canyon. ‘The nature is what I love. We’re down a wonky country road and it’s all ramshackle and surrounded by trees.’

However, she adds that balancing acting with motherhood requires logistical gymnastics: ‘Most of the time, I take the kids with me wherever I go. But as they get older, it gets harder. There’s no real stability. But when I’m not working, I’m not working at all so I can be very present.’

Eventually, the conversation turns to the subject of beauty – she teases me when I ask about her beauty routine. ‘Well! I take off my make-up. I wash my face. I put some cream on my face and I rub it in. I live in LA, so sunscreen is very important. Big hat. And, erm… hope for the best!’

And as for cosmetic procedures? ‘Tweakments! How ghastly of you even to say that!’

In a previous interview, she recalls, a journalist looked closely at her face and asked what she had ‘done’. ‘I was stunned!’ The answer she gave was that, as a comic actress, to do anything to her face that would render parts of it frozen would be counterproductive.

‘I think anyone can do whatever the hell they like. But personally – no.’

And she thinks there is a broader cultural dynamic at play. ‘You get to the point where, as a woman especially, you realise it’s in nobody else’s interest for you to feel good the way you are. If you think, “I look great as I am!” That’s great for you. It’s not great for anyone else.’

Which is to say: beauty, as an industry, depends on your dissatisfaction. ‘You are fine and beautiful as you are. Also… it doesn’t matter. The way someone looks is the least interesting thing about anyone,’ she says. ‘Just never forget, it’s only in your interest to feel good about yourself. You’re not going to feel better because of a mascara or a treatment or whatever.’ How does she cultivate that confidence? ‘But I’m not confident!’ she insists. ‘It’s just realising that it’s actually rather “dangerous” [subversive] to go, “Oh! I think I look fine, actually!”’

Amandaland season two is now available on BBC One and iPlayer

Hair: John Katsikiotis at Carol Hayes.

Make-up: Caroline Barnes using Dr Sam’s skincare and Lisa Eldridge Make-up. 

Pictures: Dave Benett, Rex/Shutterstock, BBC