The 77-year-old actress explained that she has always “dreaded” the devices and chooses not to use them as they are a “waste of time”.
Speaking on The Radio Times Podcast, Joanna recalled: “Nobody had telephones or made telephone calls. You wrote letters. You waited for a letter and you wrote a letter back again. I dreaded telephones and I still don’t use the telephone now. I won’t use a mobile phone.
“No, I won’t receive calls. Won’t have it. Waste of life. Waste of time.”
The ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ star does have a landline at home for those who wish to get in contact with her but bemoaned how mobile phones stifle creativity as people are always “reacting” rather than coming up with original thoughts.
Joanna said: “I can’t stand being on call. I can’t see the point in it. How do you live your life if you’re always reacting? And how can you have your own fresh ideas and thoughts if you’re always responding to something?”
It is not the first time Lumley has spoken out against mobile phones as she previously admitted that she only owned one to allow her to pay for parking.
She told Prima magazine in 2017: “I think we are all trapped by technology into doing far more than we should. I do have a mobile phone, because I need it to pay for parking.
“But I will turn it on, let it warm up, use it to park, then switch it off.
“The thought of being called all day long and then coming home to 88 emails makes me shudder. We’ve all been turned into servants by technology.”
