Emma Thompson is fed up with 'stupid' speech

Emma Thompson has declared war on sloppy speech.

The actress, 51, who has penned a new version of the musical My Fair Lady, told the Radio Times that she had been driven "insane" by people who do not speak properly.

She said: "We have to reinvest, I think, in the idea of articulacy as a form of personal human freedom and power.

"I went to give a talk at my old school and the girls were all doing their 'likes' and 'innits?' and 'it ain'ts', which drives me insane.

"I told them, 'Just don't do it. Because it makes you sound stupid and you're not stupid."'

She added: "There is the necessity to have two languages - one that you use with your mates and the other that you need in any official capacity. Or you're going to sound like a knob."

The Oscar-winning star recently caused controversy when she said that screen icon Audrey Hepburn, who played Eliza Doolittle in the original film version of My Fair Lady, was "not a very good actress".

British actress Carey Mulligan is set to play the Cockney flower girl in the remake of the musical.

Nanny McPhee star Thompson also said she was not tempted by plastic surgery.

She told the magazine: "Maybe when you're 55 you start thinking, 'Well, maybe,' but I simply cannot imagine making that decision and dealing with my own shame.

"It really does seem to me to be quite psychologically dysfunctional and part of this ridiculous culture of perfection.

"I mean, there are people, women, who Photoshop pictures of their babies! I can't even look through a woman's magazine without wanting to hurl it across the room, screaming. And it's no good just saying, 'Oh, but I don't want to be part of that' and then giving in. As Gandhi said, you've got to be the change you want to see happen."