My own parents were very un-neurotic, so I never thought that I had to change enormously in order to become a parent..

So often when you meet child actors, they're weird - they're freaks. No, I mean it, they're really odd people..

Music really influenced me when I was growing up. I did go through a Jimi Hendrix phase. My hair was naturally quite afro, and I wore low-slung jeans….

As I've got older, I feel more confident in my body, so wouldn't want to tamper with it..

Theatre is liberating because it only works if it's truthful, That's what it requires. That's not true of film: the camera does lie..

If you're constantly frightened of being unhappy, how bloody exhausting must that be?.

I feel as though my life is bathed in golden sunlight. And the really wonderful thing is that I know it..

It's what people create that makes my heart stop..

I was a real art freak when I was a teenager..

What really matters to me is what my peers think..

I think it's very important not to grow up with the unhealthy amount of attention that is sometimes put on people because they are 'actors'..

I can sleep anywhere! I can come off stage during the interval of a play, lie down for four minutes then wake up feeling better..

I spent my teenage years in Paris when my dad was stationed there, and I'd look at women in their forties and think, 'That's the age I want to be.'.

I love London, and it's a privilege for my children to grow up here..

I used to say that theatre was my favourite thing. But the more I do film, the more I appreciate it..

Actually, I'm looking forward to being 50. Because to me, that's when a woman is at the pinnacle of her femininity and her womanhood..

I had a great start in television; the first thing I did was an episode of Performance called The Entertainer with Michael Gambon playing Archie Rice..

When I was 14 I told my mother I intended to be in the House of Commons in the morning, in court in the afternoon and on stage in the evening. She re….

I've become more confident as I have got older. I care less what others think..

I use my awards as doorsteps. Others are in the office or in little cubbyholes in our library – they go between the books, because they actually look….

People who are exceptionally intelligent are often lonely because there are few people as intelligent as them. I have two little children and everyon….