Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page reveals why she wasn't perfect in the Christmas special of the hit comedy show

Welsh actress Joanna Page, 46, is best known as Stacey in the hit BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey. She lives with her Emmerdale actor husband James Thornton and their four young children in Oxfordshire.

Don't worry about perfection

I've always wanted to do incredibly well: I'm an only child and an Aries, the zodiac sign of perfectionists. At school I was known for doing well, which put even more pressure on me. But over the years I have come to realize that perfectionism is holding me back.

When I first went to auditions, I always thought I had to be 100 percent perfect and know all my lines. I felt like if I wasn't the best I could be, I didn't even have to put in the effort. So I got into a vicious cycle of worrying that I wouldn't perform at my best, then procrastinating, and ultimately missing the audition because I hadn't given myself enough time to prepare. Now I come over to read a bit and just enjoy the way I'm doing it at that moment.

For the Gavin & Stacey special in 2019, it didn't freak me out too much. If it's not a perfect performance, then that's how it was meant to be captured.

Joanna, who lives in Oxfordshire with her Emmerdale actor husband James Thornton and their four young children, also appears as a regular panellist on ITV's Loose Women

I was really nervous when I tried out the movie Love, Actually. I had originally auditioned for Sarah – the role that was ultimately played by Laura Linney – but they thought I wasn't right. When I later read for the role of Judy, although I was nervous and unprepared, I was more relaxed because they already knew me.

When I was in the play Fat Pig with Robert Webb in 2008, we both forgot our lines one night. We couldn't get the scene together and I almost ran off stage to look at my script. But then I said to myself, 'It's not the end of the world.'

It's times like these that I've come to think that it's okay if you're not perfect. People really like it when you're not; it makes you more recognizable.

The biggest change has been since I had children. It put everything into perspective. I no longer have much time to prepare for auditions, but it's a lot more fun now. I think to myself, 'I know what I'm doing, I know what the scene is about,' and I just keep going.

• Joanna stars in Men Up, which you can watch on BBC iPlayer. She also appears as a regular panelist on ITV's Loose Women.