This advice is about getting over nerves in an audition or job interview… Emma Thompson and her actress mother are giving advice to drama students at the Scottish Conservatoire.  They also refer to Phyllida’s husband Eric Thompson, actor, children’s TV presenter and adapter/narrator of “The Magic Roundabout” into English (from French).

Emma brings her own experience as a director (“Sense and Sensibility”) into this brief conversation and points out what the interviewers/auditioners are looking for overall: energy!  And if you’re busy being nervous or trying to pretend to be someone you’re not, then your energy gets used up by that and you come across as flat and uninteresting.