The Day Jeremy Irons Popped In For Lunch . . .
Western Daily Press
December 12, 1998
AS one of the world's top Oscar-winning actors, he has dined at Hollywood's most sumptuous banquets.
And while filming hits like The Man in the Iron Mask and The French Lieutenant's Woman, he has shared lunch with the likes of Leonardo di Caprio and Robert de Niro.
But when Jeremy Irons visited a West farmhouse he was only too pleased to tuck into chicken, chips and peas around the kitchen table with the Musgrove family.
Jeremy stunned Leslie Musgrove, his son and daughter-in-law, when he dropped in at their farm in Westonzoyland, Somerset, to buy 60 bundles of willow for restoration work on his Irish castle.
After loading up the back of his vehicle, he accepted an invitation to lunch, cooked by Ellen, Leslie's daughter-in-law.
She said: "I was just doing the washing up when I saw this Land Rover and trailer pull up.
"We had received a phone call saying he was coming but we didn't really believe it.
Mr Irons was very tall and imposing. He was very interested in our business - which was nice, as you don't expect it from someone as famous as him.
"He turned up at noon and wanted to see what my husband, Michael and his dad, Leslie, did. By the time he had loaded up I had cooked dinner.
Michael said to him: 'Would you like to come in for dinner?' and he said: 'That would be nice.' I said to him that I wasn't much of a cook.
"We had chicken, chips and peas and a cup of tea. He sat at our kitchen table and was quite happy to chat."
Jeremy, a former pupil of Sherborne school, told them he was buying the willow to restore the ceilings and arches of his castle, near Cork, in traditional style.
He said he had 23 people working on the four-storey building, which has not been occupied since the 17th century. Its walls are nine feet thick at the base.
Jeremy asked Ellen about her children, one-year-old Holly and son Jack, seven, who was disappointed when he got back from school to find the star had already left.
Leslie said Jeremy, who spent 800 pounds, was very interested in the farm, where he and his son grow 40 acres of willow.
After feeding his dog, Jeremy headed off to Barry, South Wales, where he was due to pick up some stone before catching the night ferry home.
He told the Musgroves he is due to start making another film in February.