Shakespeare showed me that once I understand the rules, I can break them.

Shakespeare's taught me that there are more words in the English language than I have got in my head.

My mother was adorable, a great giggler. My father was very strong and could be quite frightening.

I don't want to be a director, or to have responsibility for hundreds of people.

I dont have the confidence to be a personality.

I have lots of passions - gardens, art, music and reading. I have eclectic taste and read a huge variety of books.

I don't know any woman who is happy with her looks. I certainly wouldn't want to be friends with anyone who was.

And children? 'I don't have any regrets about not having had children. What's the point? It's just something else to beat yourself up over.

I'm constantly intimidated by Shakespeare's work. Trying to decipher what he's saying and holding on to that thought - not just as an actor, but as a human being - is a rigour.

I absolutely hate clothes shopping, though I love clothes. It's my idea of heaven to be handed things to wear.

As You Like It' was the first Shakespeare production I ever did.

Your life is a picture of the decisions and choices you have made in the past, and your future depends on the quality of the decisions you make today and tomorrow.

The advantage of doing one's praising to oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.

The price we pay for our irresponsible explanatory urge is that we often spoil our most pleasant experiences by making good sense of them.

I want to go on tour with the most exciting artists, and I want to make sure that I have songs with all of them.

I think furniture is art. I don't think art is just for your walls - I think everything that someone has made is a piece of art.

It seems to me that God is a convenient invention of the human mind

Get the best player because whether it's soccer or whether it's anything else the team with the best players wins. So focus your energy on getting the best and getting rid of the weakest.

Well, I'm British. I'm proud to be British and I love this country. I'm going nowhere.

The basis of action on love, the brotherhood of all men, the value of the individual... the humility of the spirit.

Women punish themselves for the failure to conform.