Dame Joanna Lumley was clueless about Wednesday Addams before she joined the Netflix series about the character

Joanna told the new issue of Woman+Home magazine: "It's lovely to join something that is so important to the American people. The Addams Family is the bedrock of America. Everybody knows their names.

"I didn't even know Wednesday was the name of the child, so I had to quickly watch an episode of Wednesday.

"It's lovely to be part of it, but it would be stupid to say I've looked forward to doing this all my life. I'd never even heard of it.

"I'm lucky enough to be working on Wednesday until the middle of next year. This is unusual."

The acting legend - who was drawn to join Wednesday after Tim Burton, 67, the show's director and ex ecutive producer, phoned her to ask if she wanted to "play the grandmother" - hates knowing what she is doing each year.

Joanna explained: "I can't stand knowing what I'm going to do next year. It feels like being trapped.

"I've loved never knowing what I'm going to do next - never knowing if I'll get £10 for a job or £10,000 for a day.

"I like the uncertainty of circus life."

Joanna has been gracing our screens since the 1960s.

Although she has no plans on retiring, the Absolutely Fabulous star "maybe" wants to do less projects.

Joanna said: "I imagined that, as I got older, life would slow down.

"I envisaged spending a lot of time gardening, weeding and sleeping in the afternoon, but this year has been unbelievably busy.

"I've had long filming days, travelling days, going over [to America] to promote things, fitting in shoots and commercials.

"I'm in Netflix's Wednesday, and I [recently went] to a big event in the States where Netflix presented its biggest nine shows.

"It was fascinating but exhausting. If I was putting lids on jam pots for eight hours a day, I'd love to retire, but I don't [want to].

"You keep going if you love it, and I do something I love."

Joanna added: "Most of my work isn't like work at all. I love doing voice-overs, documentaries, writing - I loved doing my book - and gardening.

"I do a lot of them all. Maybe I want to do not quite so much. It's always feast or famine, and I want just a little less feast."