Rachael Stirling has admitted she was ‘s*** scared’ of her famous mother Dame Diana Rigg.

The English actress, 47, said her mother Dame Diana Rigg tried to prevent her following in her footsteps into showbusiness and was ‘disapproving’ of her work.

‘I was s*** scared of her really,’ she confessed while speaking on the Rosebud podcast.

Rachael – who has starred in Doctor Who, Tipping The Velvet and The Bletchley Circle – added: ‘She was disapproving and kind of dismissive of my work… it wasn’t great.’

Rachael implied there might have been an element of jealousy and ‘competition’ from former Bond girl Dame Diana, who died in 2020 aged 82.

‘I looked exactly like her, which was annoying when she was ageing,’ she went on. 

English actress Rachael Stirling, 47, says her famous late mother Dame Diana Rigg, who died in 2020 aged 82, tried to prevent her following in her footsteps into showbusiness

Rachael also admitted she was ‘s***-scared’ of her mum who starred in Game of Thrones and James Bond (pictured together in 2012)

‘She was quite white-knuckled about holding on to the reins and not letting me do it [acting].

‘She sort of ring-fenced her profession. And I was absolutely not allowed to go to drama school, although she did.’

Rachael is married to husband Guy Garvey, who is also an actor.

The actress and the Elbow frontman, 50, tied the knot at Manchester Town Hall in June 2016 after a year of dating, and went on to welcome son, Jack, six. 

Rachael also previously spoke about the relationship that Guy had with her late mother.

She described the bond her mother and husband shared, especially before her death, which Guy called ‘such a special time’.

Rachael said: ‘Guy was very close to my mother. When we brought her home to die in 2020 he was so generous and welcoming, and I think that my mum fell in love with him a little bit.

‘When the first lockdown lifted and he was able to go back to his studio, she loved the idea of him going off to create. 

‘He’d go into her bedroom to say goodbye each morning and she’d say, “I shroud you in the cloak of inspiration. May the gods of poetry visit you.”

Rachael Stirling and husband Guy Garvey opened up about their romance, revealing their love story began due to two A-list actors (pictured together in 2021)

‘She’d do this every day until she got weaker and weaker, and at the end she’d just move her hands slowly and say, “Cloakie cloakie.” So that’s what Guy’s home studio is called — Cloakie Cloakie.’

Guy added: ‘Rachael’s mother was amazing. It was a privilege to share the last month of her life. We bonded over words and poetry, a love of the same songwriters.

‘Rachael was running around balancing medicines for her while I got all the lovely chat. It was such a special time.’