Emma Thompson laments treatment of writers in Hollywood

Actor Emma Thompson has blasted Hollywood studios for miserable treatment of writers, saying they are considered "the lowest of the low". The veteran star said the studios do not give the respect and creative space the writers deserve, adding they are often fired without proper explanation.

"One of the reasons is that they need stars - big stars - who work all the time and have to be fitted into timescales. What happens is there will be an idea for a story. It will be in development, and then suddenly two of the big stars come free, and everyone says, 'right, let's shoot it, we'll work it out as we shoot'.

"One thing I know, after 30 years of doing this, is you can't work it out while you shoot... It always ends up just making things so much more difficult in post-production," Thompson told the Guardian.

The 60-year-old star, who won an Oscar for best screenplay for her work on 1995 film Sense and Sensibility, said she can will no longer follow the infamous trend of working with incomplete scripts.

"This is a tradition and yet, when there is a good screenplay, and everyone recognises that it's a good screenplay, there's a lot of fuss and a tremendous amount of what can only be described as lip service to the value of good writing.

"And then everything continues as before. That's what happens, and I don't know how to change that. But I know that I don't want to make films with unfinished scripts," she added.

Thompson is currently working on Last Christmas, which she co-wrote with Bryony Kimmings.