Sharon Horgan reveals how she was dumbstruck when she met Jennifer Saunders

Sharon Horgan reveals how she was dumbstruck when she met Jennifer Saunders

Sharon was almost dumbstruck when she first came face-to-face with her heroine to discuss Jennifer playing a central character in her new comedy, Dead Boss.

And the usually loud-mouthed comedian was overcome with shyness when she saw the Bafta-winning Ab Fab star at work.

Pulling star Sharon, 42, said: “It was like a dream cast to get Jennifer on board.

“I had never worked with her before, only admired her from afar, like a TV stalker.

“It was slightly surreal seeing an absolute idol of mine saying our words.

“I felt absolutely starstruck. Two weeks in I felt more confident and we just yapped away.”

“You get even more lost for words when you see Jennifer on camera and realise what a brilliant performer she is. It is a little intimidating.

“It’s just in her, it’s not like she has a technique... she is naturally that good.

“There isn’t anything you can learn from watching her, you would just have to be Jennifer Saunders â€" and sadly that is never going to happen.”

Sharon â€" who confessed she had watched every show Jennifer had ever acted in â€" told how she found it difficult to direct someone she admired so much.

She said: “It is really hard when you are working with people who are your heroes.

“Normally I am quite happy to tell people to try it this way or to push things a bit further, but at one point I thought ‘Can I really ask Jennifer to snog Tony Blackburn?’ Luckily she was up for it.”

The mum-of-two usually draws ideas for her characters and situations from her own experiences, but said that was impossible this time round as Dead Boss is based on life in prison.

She said: “You can’t really get inspiration for a jail comedy when you haven’t been to prison. Usually I use my life or friends’ lives.

“The only character that is perhaps true to reality is Margaret, the governor, who is based on a boss at the JobCentre where I worked.

“It was quite a grim place and I remember her coming in every day with armfuls of plastic plants, trying to make it a more beautiful environment, rather than dealing with the staff.”

The six-parter â€" co-written with Holly Walsh â€" also stars Peep Show’s Geoff McGivern and Call The Midwife’s Bryony Hannah.

The comedy, which also has a little murder mystery thrown in, sees Helen Stephens (played by Sharon) falsely imprisoned for murdering her boss.

And while Helen is sure it is only a matter of time before the horrible mistake is sorted out, everyone else seems to be conspiring to keep her on the inside, for one reason or another.

Dead Boss begins on BBC3 at 10.30pm on June 14.