I just would like to keep going. If I kept getting the kind of work that I've been getting for the last 20 years for the next 20, I'd be a bloody Dame of the British Empire. I'd be so happy.

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.

Two ways to treat a girl: Make her feel as a princess Or Make her feel as a slave.

I'd love to play a full-out rocking chick.

I guess I'm about ready to promote myself in a more human way. I don't feel quite so insecure.

Divine love does not weigh down, nor carry his servant captive and enslaved to the lowest depths, but raises him, supports him and magnifies him above all liberty whatsoever.

I love good creditable acquaintance; I love to be the worst of the company.

You have to let the world speak to you and then you speak, you know, so I'm in that moment now where I'm finding the world's voice.

An entrepreneur's life is always a continuous journey.

If every head of state and every government official spent an hour a day reading poetry we'd live in a much more humane and decent world.

I would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no acting.

I conduct business, not dependent of public sentiment, but according to the rules of fair business.