I was quite shy. I used to write stories all the time, and I think that was a worry for my parents.

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.

Centre yourself. Fear will get you killed as easily as a weapon.

I love you as the rain loves the earth.

When you have a good heart, kindness becomes a responsibility you take up.

The present moment is the combination of future and past...so let's live and sometimes, sometimes let's just forget about the rest!

Once you do a character in Hollywood and people haven't seen you before, they put you in a box and they think that's all that you can do and it's hard to get people to take a risk on you.

Stevie Wonder always smells so good... I'm like a DEA dog, I can smell people a block away!

For me it was really important to get the essence out of the music for the story and not, sort of, press the music into the service of the whimsical telling of it.

When a woman falls in love with the magnificent possibilities within herself, the forces that would limit those possibilities hold less and less sway over her.

One sin, I know, another doth provoke. Murder's as near to lust as flame to smoke.

I did a movie in Esperanto.