Playing Under the Piano: ‘Comedy gold’ Sunday Times

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Hugh Bonneville is one of Britain's most accomplished actors, whose credits include Downton Abbey, W1A and the Paddington films.


'Deliciously witty' Celia Imrie
'Utterly charming' Jack Whitehall
'Funny, touching, revealing' Gyles Brandreth
'A gorgeous book' Richard Curtis
'Beautiful. Touching. And funny' Gary Oldman
'Charming, joyous and entertaining' Griff Rhys Jones
'Shows a great verve for storytelling' The Independent

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. From getting his big break as Third Shepherd in the school nativity play, to mistaking a Hollywood star for an estate agent, Hugh creates a brilliantly vivid picture of a career on stage and screen. 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 writes 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.

Critics Review

It's a gorgeous book. It made me laugh out loud - and weep buckets
Esther Rantzen
A writer of considerable urbanity and wit. Gary Oldman says it is 'beautiful, touching and funny'. I agree.
Daily Telegraph
Comedy gold... I don't remember when I last read a book that gave me so many laughs... A riveting account of what it takes to be an actor
Sunday Times
Tremendously entertaining... if collapsing into laughter is what you need at the moment, then Playing Under the Piano could be the book for you... a delicious and endearing mode somewhere between utmost sincerity and utter bafflement
Observer
A great read
Graham Norton
An enormously entertaining memoir
Daily Mirror
The tone of Hugh Bonneville's autobiography is very much like the man himself - warm, charming, funny and thoroughly embraceable... There is a refreshing lack of narcissism in a narrative poised between detached observation and amused self-reflection... An enormously entertaining memoir
Daily Express
Really enjoyed this. Wonderfully funny and utterly charming - just like the man himself!
Jack Whitehall
By turns funny, touching, revealing - full of insights, delights and surprises. I couldn't have enjoyed it more
Gyles Brandreth
A gorgeous book. Warm, friendly, funny and sometimes surprisingly emotional. Very like Hugh himself
Richard Curtis
When other books have been forgotten, this one will be remembered. Hugh Bonneville's considerable talent for writing is on display page after page. Beautiful. Touching. And funny.
Gary Oldman
Charming, joyous and entertaining, just like Hugh.
Griff Rhys Jones
A collection of stories painting a brilliantly vivid picture of a career on stage and screen
Yorkshire Post
Bonneville is entertaining, with a clear-eyed view of his trade... Reliving it all so far with light and shade, bite and bonhomie, as a memoirist Bonneville passes the audition with flying colours
Mail on Sunday
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love Hugh even more
Woman & Home
Bonneville tells of his life with appealing modesty... he gives us plenty of backstage gossip
Reader's Digest
Witty and moving
Country Living
The Downton star proves himself to be a polished raconteur
Daily Telegraph
A beautifully poised memoir, both insightful and - occasionally - laugh-out-loud funny, with the gift for comic timing he reveals on screen and a sharp eye for detail... warmly engrossing
The Times
Bonneville's affable screen presence richly translated onto the page through anecdotes and adventures... there are many howling laughs in this frequently entertaining memoir
RTE Guide
Playing Under the Piano made me hoot
The Times
Though a funny raconteur, Bonneville also writes poignantly about his father's dementia and of his mother, whose life in the secret service only emerged after her death
The Gloss
Gloriously funny... Between the laugh-out-loud anecdotes are revealing stories of the less glamorous side of an actor's life, as well as poignant family memories
Daily Mail

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