People Are Just Realising Miss Trunchbull in Matilda Is Smithy’s Mum In Gavin & Stacey

Pam Ferris has certainly had quite the varied career.

Kimberley Bond

Published Dec 29, 2020, 10:48:10 GMTLast updated Dec 29, 2020, 10:50:22 GMT

One of the joys of acting is the ability to play any part - with some performers more versatile than others.

From a fearsome villain to a comedy cameo, some actors can boast a whole variety of roles on their performance repertoire, as some can truly embody entirely different characters when playing a new role.

One of these actors is Pam Ferris, who has been on our televisions a lot this Christmas as the supremely evil Miss Trunchbull in classic 1996 film Matilda.

The fearsome headmistress took a disliking to Matilda (

Sony Pictures)

But now, some people have only just started to realise she also features in another series we regularly crack out at around Christmas time - Gavin and Stacey.

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Prepare to have your mind blown - Miss Trunchbull is also Catherine Smith, also known as Smithy's mum, in the classic British sitcom.

Fans of the show will remember Cath to be a heavy drinker (and an equally as heavy a sleeper) who doesn't think much of son Smithy (played by James Corden) - but while she's not the nicest of mothers, she's not as bad as the Trunchbull, who force-fed a child cake, swung one girl by her pigtails and locked disobedient children in 'The Chokey' (a small cupboard filled with broken glass and nails on the walls).

Pam Ferris also played Smithy's mum in Gavin and Stacey (

BBC)

And those who have finally cracked that Pam Ferris played both characters were quick to register their shock on Twitter.

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"Will never wrap my head around the fact that Miss Trunchbull and Smithy's mum from Gavin and Stacey are the same person," said one.

Another added: "I was today's years old when I found out the woman who plays Mrs Trunchbull in Matilda, is the same woman who plays Smithy's mum in Gavin & Stacey."

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"So you're telling me Miss Trunchbull and Smithy's mom from Gavin & Stacey are the same person what?" questioned a third.

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A fourth, however, put a side-by-side comparison of the two characters. "How did I not know that the actress that plays Miss Trunchbull in Matilda is the same lady that plays Smithy's mum in Gavin & Stacey?" they wrote.