She has won plaudits for a stunning makeover that wiped a decade off her 48 years – but Emma Thompson had no trouble transforming herself into a white-haired chatelaine for her new role in Brideshead Revisited.

The Oscar-winning actress stars as Lady Marchmain in the £15 million movie remake of Evelyn Waugh's classic, currently being filmed in London.

Lady Marchmain – a staunch Catholic – is the mother of the story's dissolute central character Sebastian Flyte and the estranged wife of Lord Marchmain, played by Michael Gambon.

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Grey day: Emma filming Brideshead

It is not the first time Ms Thompson has starred alongside Gambon – the pair have appeared together in Harry Potter films.

Gambon took over the role of Hogwart's headmaster Albus Dumbledore after the death of Richard Harris, while Ms Thompson played the eccentric Professor Sybil Trelawney.

The Brideshead movie, which also stars Ben Whishaw as Sebastian and Matthew Goode as his friend Charles, is due to be released early next year.

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A glamorous Emma Thompson with her dishy husband Greg Wise

It faces the huge task of following in the footsteps of the iconic 1981 TV adaptation, starring Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons.

Ms Thompson is also busy working on a screenplay for a sequel to Nanny McPhee, her film about a nanny with magical powers.

Offscreen, she and her husband – actor Greg Wise – are now recognised as one of theatreland's most glamorous couples.

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Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews in the TV adaptation

Yet Ms Thompson, who insists she retains her figure by trotting round the cricket pitch "in an elderly fashion" for 20 minutes and doing press-ups at home, remains determinedly down to earth.

She and her husband still live in the London home where she was born, with their seven-year-old daughter Gaia, and Ms Thompson's mother Phyllida Law.