Kathy Burke hung up her acting boots in 2022, declaring she grew "bored" with the industry after a glittering 40-year career. The Absolutely Fabulous star, 60, decided to bow out from the limelight, revealing a shift in her professional path as she turned to directing. Speaking candidly, Kathy expressed her disenchantment with acting, saying: "When I used to work as an actor, you just talked about your own character.
" She added: "You didn't really have input on anybody else. I thought, 'This is so f***ing boring.'" Further explaining her decision, she remarked: "I just found that quite ludicrous, which is one of the reasons I wanted to stop being an actor.
" However, Kathy's retirement from acting appeared to be short-lived as she returned to the big screen in the 2024 film Blitz, written and directed by Steve McQueen. Her rare screen appearance came in the form of "lovely and horrible" gang leader Beryl. Opening up about why she chose to return to acting, Kathy revealed she "couldn't say no" when the opportunity arose to work with McQueen.
"I've just always been fascinated by Steve McQueen and a great admirer of him," she said. "I sort of felt I couldn’t say no to meeting him." Kathy continued: "I didn’t think I’d be interested in taking part.
.. But we had a really lovely cup of tea, and he didn’t realise I was of Irish heritage.
"He nearly got a slap, for not knowing that, where have you been, you know? And then he basically said, 'Look, we’re doing a little table .