Metro.co.uk had the pleasure of speaking to Ruby Wax earlier this month (Picture: Rex)
Ruby Wax is one of the most fearless performers out there.
Whether it’s writing, telling jokes or earning a cognitive therapy degree from Oxford University, the 70-year-old entertainment veteran is a force to be reckoned with.
But Ruby’s latest gig, she insists, is unlike anything she’s done before.
On May 11, the star will release her new book, I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was, which Ruby called a ‘road trip ricocheting from the sublime into the insane’. Sounds fun, right?
But you know what’s even funner? The fact the former Royal Shakespeare Company actress is also touring the book as a stage show.
Billed as being Ruby’s ‘rawest, darkest and funniest stage show yet’, we couldn’t wait to pick Ruby’s brain about what guests can expect.
The 70-year-old entertainment veteran is a force to be reckoned with (Picture: Ruby Wax)
Metro.co.uk recently had a no holds barred chat with the mum-of-three, who covered everything from mental breakdowns to her 35-year friendship with Carrie Fisher.
You’re in for a treat.
First up: Ruby’s new stage show, I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was. Like we said earlier, it’s hailed as being raw, dark and funny. Could she give us an example of each?
‘You need to know the premise of the book,’ she began.
On May 11, the star will release her new book, I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was (Picture: Instagram/rubywax)
‘I was going to write a book about [life] after lockdown, so I arranged all these journeys to go on to inspire me.’
Ruby continued: ‘You know, I would find compassion with people out in Afghanistan, I would find real joy swimming with migrating whales… I went on a 30-day silent retreat to find peace.’
‘I lined all those up, and I did them, but I ended up in a mental institution,’ she added matter-of-factly.
For those who don’t know, Ruby was admitted to a mental health hospital in London last year.
‘That wipes the smile off people’s faces,’ she quipped, ‘but that’s really what happened.’
How did she pass the time inside?
‘In the clinic I lived under a duvet and watched re-runs of Friends,’ she shared. ‘I didn’t understand the plot because they were too complicated, but I really liked the colour purple. That was the colour of one of their walls.’
Ruby was admitted to a mental health hospital in London last year (Picture: Instagram/rubywax)
Explaining that anyone who buys a ticket to her show can expect ‘more stories that go into the world of mental illness’, Ruby made sure to add: ‘Some of it’s terrifying. Some of it’s hilarious. That’s the journey.’
While we were on the subject of her time in hospital, we had to ask about a photo Ruby shared from a hospital bed back in January.
Wired up to machines while clutching her book, the snap unsurprisingly sparked concern, not to mention numerous headlines that she’d been committed.
As it turns out, she hadn’t, and the image had nothing to do with her actual stay in a mental health hospital.
‘That was a joke. I wouldn’t have been able to do that when I was really in [a mental health hospital],’ Ruby said with a smile.
Ruby shared a photo from a hospital bed back in January (Picture: Instagram/rubywax)
She elaborated: ‘I was having tests done because I had a bad reaction to some medicine.
‘I had my book on me, so they said, “hold up the book” and I thought, “well this is going to be funny’.”
Ruby made sure to emphasise: ‘When you’re really ill, you couldn’t do something like that.’
While we’re on the subject of headlines, we wondered whether Ruby was aware she’d featured in Pamela Anderson’s recent Netflix documentary, Pamela: A Love Story.
In old footage played during the film, Ruby interviewed Pamela on the set of Baywatch and asked: ‘Do you want to be a serious actress?’
When Pamela, now 55, replied: ‘I am a serious actress,’ Ruby looked at the camera and laughed.
The moment got people talking, but according to Ruby, what she said next to Pamela was cut from the documentary.
‘Then she quoted Hamlet to me,’ Ruby revealed: ‘They cut that bit out. And she knew the speeches. She’s smart.’
Did it bother her that the clip was started doing the social media rounds?
‘I don’t look [at social media]. I know what I can take. I send my Instagram stuff to somebody, she looks at it and she puts it on.’
‘I don’t know how to get on Instagram. I’d end up mentally ill,’ Ruby added.
Speaking of Pamela, Ruby’s mingled with her fair share of A-listers over the years. Do any memories in particular stick out?
‘Carrie Fisher,’ Ruby fired back without a moment’s thought.
‘She became my closest friend after an interview. After the interview, we went out immediately and then stayed friends for 35 years.’
Ruby was promoting her new book, I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was (Picture: Instagram/rubywax)
Obviously, we were desperate to hear the hows and whys of their immediate friendship.
‘I told her a story about my father meeting her father, Eddie Fisher, in Vegas when I was eight,’ Ruby explained.
‘[My dad told Eddie] he had this beautiful girl lined up for him, because he’d just left Elizabeth Taylor.’
Explaining that she was hiding out of sight, Ruby went on: ‘Eddie goes, “bring her out”.
‘I was a hideous child and I was hiding and shaking. Then my mother went behind me and kicked me. I show up and they all laugh at me.’
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Thankfully, the sad tale has a silver lining, that being a lifelong friendship with the late Carrie Fisher.
‘So when Carrie heard that she went, “come with me” and we went shopping,’ Ruby recalled with an enormous smile on her face.
You can buy tickets for Ruby’s I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was tour here.
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