'Dune: Prophecy' stars Emily Watson & Olivia Williams seem to disagree on whether they have good manners. Watch as the co-stars are put to the test on their etiquette, from how to deal with a friend leaking stories about them to the press (despite Emily not thinking her life is interesting enough to do so), to using a silent stare to get someone off their phone during one of their performances. Find out what could possibly make Olivia slap a friend and how they'd handle the insufferable stench of someone removing their shoes on a plane.
The new HBO Original Series ‘Dune: Prophecy’ premieres November 17 on Max.
The new HBO Original Series ‘Dune: Prophecy’ premieres November 17 on Max.
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00:00I don't think I have the kind of life
00:02where anybody would be the slightest bit interested
00:05in leaking stories about me to the press, so...
00:07Hi, I'm Emily Watson.
00:09And I'm Olivia Williams.
00:10And this is Common Courtesy with Town & Country.
00:14We're gonna be given several different scenarios
00:17and we're going to share with you
00:18how we would give proper etiquette to each situation.
00:22I do think we have good manners, yes.
00:24I don't. Manners maketh man.
00:26I think that's pride right there. Bad manners.
00:29We both need glasses.
00:30Yeah, I've got... I can just about see it.
00:32Your friend is hosting a dinner party
00:34but you know their cooking is tragic.
00:36As expected, everything tastes horrible.
00:39How do you proceed?
00:41We're actresses.
00:42Yeah.
00:43Just act sly.
00:44Yeah.
00:45It's a very useful tool.
00:46Darling, it was delicious.
00:48Yeah.
00:49Well, this also is an act you can do the...
00:52I'm on a diet for the next show.
00:53I can't... I'm simply not allowed to eat.
00:56Yeah, don't hurt...
00:56Don't go to a dinner party and insult the food.
00:58Yeah.
00:59Very often, if people are bad cooks as well, they go, you know...
01:02It's...
01:03I'm a bad cook.
01:04Yeah.
01:04And I do. And I always apologise in advance.
01:08You have to.
01:09Yes.
01:09But again, it's like on set.
01:11If you ever see people on an eating scene in a movie,
01:14that food, they try their best.
01:16But, you know, you've been eating it for about 16 hours
01:20and they bring fresh plate.
01:21But we're really good at faking it.
01:24You're running late while grabbing your morning coffee.
01:27When someone cuts you in line, do you speak up?
01:31I do.
01:31Yes.
01:33I do.
01:33It's quite an English thing of, I'm so sorry, but there is a queue.
01:37Yeah.
01:37Or I go for the passive-aggressive.
01:39It's okay, I'm not in a rush.
01:40You...
01:41Clearly, you're very late for something very important.
01:45I've got all the time in the world.
01:48A friend tells you that they don't care to watch your new show, Dune Prophecy,
01:52saying they are simply uninterested.
01:54How do you respond to that, in inverted commas, friend?
01:58I just like, sure, I mean, not for everybody.
02:02No, I'd bitch slap her.
02:04I was just like, oh, you didn't have to tell me that.
02:06No, maybe.
02:07In a way, that's quite nicely and kind of naively, socially...
02:12Honest.
02:13Honest.
02:14Which is quite rare these days, is it not?
02:16Honesty is the opposite of courtesy.
02:19I'm sticking with bitch slap, sorry.
02:21Anyway, next.
02:23You learn that someone in your inner circle is leaking stories about you to the press.
02:28How do you confront them?
02:30I don't think I have the kind of life where anybody would be in the slightest bit interested
02:36in leaking stories about me to the press.
02:37So, I just go, what are you doing?
02:40What are you doing?
02:41What are they going to say?
02:42She put the recycling out on the wrong day.
02:45Exactly.
02:46Again, I think it's the bitch slap that's the only answer.
02:49You have been falsely accused of being a huge diva on set
02:53and the crew is keeping their distance from you.
02:55How do you put an end to that rumour?
02:57I actually did have a situation recently where there was a whole political shnaffle going on with the film.
03:02Somebody was trying to discredit somebody else and they used me as an excuse.
03:06They said I'd got really upset about something.
03:08I was horrified.
03:10Horrified.
03:11You have to be constantly vigilant.
03:15Yes.
03:16You be...
03:17Polite.
03:17Polite and kind and say thank you and ask for things.
03:21It's very deceptive because it may look like we need someone to tie our shoelaces,
03:25but we actually want to tie our own shoelaces,
03:27but you're not allowed to tie your own shoelaces because continuity have to tie your shoelaces for you.
03:32So, that infantilising thing can look like diva behaviour.
03:36You have to just set the tone of everybody is kind, everybody is polite,
03:40and we just sort things out in a civilised fashion.
03:42On set while filming Dune, it wasn't as glamorous as it looks on the show.
03:45I know the sets look gorgeous and they were gorgeous,
03:49but actually we were filming in an industrial estate next to the biggest waist-burning facility in Eastern Europe.
03:59But then there was the joy of the moments between action and cut when you get to work with Emily Woods.
04:05And likewise, it was true proper fun, but also we had a great gang of kids with us.
04:10Really great company of actors.
04:12They were a lot of fun to be around.
04:14You're at a restaurant and the server keeps messing up your meal,
04:18consistently bringing the wrong items to the table.
04:20At what point do you say something?
04:23Pretty early on.
04:24Straight away?
04:24Yeah.
04:25And I might go and find the server.
04:27I won't summon them to the table with a click of the fingers or shouting,
04:31but I might go and say,
04:32uh, are the fries anywhere to be seen?
04:34Yes, exactly.
04:35Be very kind.
04:36I'm not such a fan of the Brussels sprouts.
04:39Where are my fries?
04:39Just, sorry, excuse me.
04:41I think, I might be wrong.
04:43Yeah.
04:44I think we ordered some chips.
04:46Yeah.
04:47Yeah.
04:48You're on a plane and the person next to you takes off their shoes as soon as they sit down,
04:54which lets out an insufferable stench.
04:56What do you say?
04:58Nothing, of course.
05:00It actually happened to me.
05:01Sort of mid-flight, somebody took their shoes off.
05:05Of course I said nothing.
05:06What are you going to do?
05:07Get up and say, excuse me, your feet fell.
05:09The manners comes in with you.
05:10Being kind.
05:11The person can't have their feelings hurt.
05:14Publicly humiliating somebody.
05:17Yeah.
05:18Not nice.
05:18Might ring the bell and ask to move seats discreetly.
05:24You're on stage and notice someone in the audience filming you.
05:28Do you stop the show and tell them to put their phone away?
05:31Yeah.
05:32You just stop and you stare at them and you wait.
05:39Row K, seat number nine.
05:42You have to be very, very good at staying in the moment and being able to pick up the show where you left off.
05:48And you do have to take the temperature as to whether it's going to be more disruptive to the show to stop it and make an example of that person.
05:58But if they're disrupting everyone else, what they're doing, then yes.
06:02You know, stealing our intellectual property by filming us.
06:05Exactly.
06:05Thank you for watching us on Town & Country.
06:07Be certain that you check out Dune Prophecy on HBO.
06:11What she said.