Any kind of conflict draws me to a role.

I sometimes think it's like a weird elastic band. The more tragic your work is, the quicker you snap back. There's a catharsis in telling a miserable old tale; you get rid of demons.

There are some roles you just don't say 'no' to. Those compass points: you get them so rarely as an actress.

I don't look like Catherine Zeta-Jones, so I don't think Hollywood would be that interested in me, to be honest. I just want nice work.

As I get older, I want to draw on my experience to make roles better. I see that in the older women who inspire me - their experience makes them better.

Nothing is more diminishing than trying to control success or hold on to things.

People at a point of conflict are always the most interesting stories to tell.

You can't worry too much about profile; otherwise, you become a different kind of actor, and that's not the kind of actor I want to be.

There are people out there with three jobs and small children. Being an actor is a walk in the park compared to working as a cleaner overnight. I'm lucky I'm not plucking chickens.

You just grow up and learn to think instead of just feel.

When I started drama school, theatre was the main draw. I never had any movie star notions. Not that there were family ties to the theatre, either.

Look for the positive qualities in your client's negative behavior.

I don't believe civilization can do a lot more than educate a person's senses.

I experience so many feelings and emotions when I tour. It's the most amazing and also the most lonely thing you can do.

My imagination, my ability to understand the way love and people grow over time, how passion can surprise and renew, utterly failed me.

If we've been a little more successful than other people, is because we always realised that the school of life was always open, and if you were not learning more you are falling behind.

What is it about the English countryside — why is the beauty so much more than visual? Why does it touch one so?

The two stallions, the silver and the black, represent the equine god (whomsoever horses pray to) in this ritual so ancient that no one knows what god to thank.

The most fortunate of men, Be he a king or commoner, is he Whose welfare is assured in his own home.

I felt the hand and the call of God in my life that I would be doing ministry and trying to serve Him the best that I could.

You can't be an FBI agent without being cautious and thinking things through. That's just part of the training.