I want to have a scene with Maggie Smith.

People have preconceptions about women of a certain age.

Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity Ive met as a result of Downton Abbey.

I can do basics, but I'm not a proper cook. I can do a roast. I can stick a chicken in the oven with vegetables.

The first meal my husband ever made me was a chicken curry. I have never tasted anything so delicious in my life.

I get invited to a lot more glamorous parties since Ive been in Downton Abbey, which has made me much more fashion conscious.

I did an O-level in domestic science when I was at school, but on the day of the practical exam, it was a cookery nightmare.

Ive been to the White House and had Hilary Clinton push through the crowd to come and meet me. Chelsea Clinton, too.

I believe anything can happen.

I always admire people who have passion.

As an actor, you never know where the works going to come, so you have to be flexible about it.

If you must record some greatness in your account before you leave this earth, you must value time and understand the importance of time conversion.

Leadership is hard to define and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.

With power comes the abuse of power. And where there are bosses, there are crazy bosses. It's nothing new.

It's like you wake up one morning, and decided that how you've been in the past doesn't have to define who you are in the future. Simple as that.

The world of the Takers is one vast prison, and except for a handful of Leavers scattered across the world, the entire human race is now inside that prison.

I was never unhappy with the shows. I didn't get into [the writing]. I had an area. My area was my character. My area was what they gave me to do.

Part of being married is knowing when your husband needs your support.

If you are a good student of life, wisdom becomes your rain, falling heavily on your mind!

To get it right, be born with luck or else make it. Never give up. A little money helps, but what really gets it right is to never face the facts.

We have to work together to do a better job than we did in the last few generations.