Playing under the piano - Hugh Bonneville

A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year

'Delicious and endearing' Observer

'Comedy gold' Sunday Times

'A riveting account of what it takes to be an actor' Christina Patterson

'A writer of considerable urbanity and wit' Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph

Hugh Bonneville is one of Britain's most accomplished actors, familiar to audiences worldwide for his roles in Notting Hill, the Paddington films and Downton Abbey. What is it like working with Judi Dench and Julia Roberts, or playing Robert de Niro's right leg, or not being Gary Oldman, twice?

A wickedly funny storyteller, Hugh also writers with poignancy about his father's dementia and of his mother, whose life in the secret service only emerged after her death. Whether telling stories of working with divas, Dames or a bear with a penchant for marmalade, this is a richly entertaining account of his life as an actor.