We always had chocolates and my mother was careful to make sure they were unwrapped in advance so the paper wouldn't rustle in the middle of a performance.

We have this wonderful language and we don't appreciate it. That's old-fashioned me, but when I went to school, everyone had elocution lessons, not to sound posh but so you could be understood.

Shyness is just egotism out of its depth.

I plant a lot of trees. I am a great believer in planting things for future generations. I loathe the now culture where you just live for today.

I think I'm a better actress for having friends and interests outside the theatre. I wouldn't want to live my life surrounded by other actors all the time.

Older people, who just happen to have been around longer, may not be cleverer than the young, but they have seen more.

Everyone wants instant everything, and they want instant success, but I always think you should treat things in the arts like a garden, and let them grow.

I don't feel 'vibes' when I enter a building - don't feel the previous owners looking down on me. But I do know when a place feels friendly.

So often actors only mix with actors, which is quite incestuous, and doesn't give them the insight into how other people work.

With a play, you do it and it's gone. Films always date. Television drama always dates. Television comedy, for some reason, seems to go on.

I'm a bit of a Scotophile. I have a house on the Black Isle, so I'm in Scotland quite a lot and think Edinburgh is just the most beautiful city.

Repetition is the mother of character and skill.

We don't need more time. We need to use the time we already have differently.

It's hard to describe to people how terrible it was when you could only watch cartoons at a certain time in your life.

Nana used to say whenever you start feeling like the world is taking a bite out of you, bite back by counting your blessings.

The fact that I seem to prefer seals over any other animal brides is something I hadn't actually realized until this moment. Perhaps it's because there's a lot of very cool folklore about it.

Make the second effort your second nature.

The president's [Donald Trump] approval rating is much higher than the media's approval rating and Congress' approval rating, for that matter.

For example, I wear clothes I buy at trendy shops because I don't care much about clothing. If someone wants to create a trend around clothing, I'll happily and blindly follow.

I used to think success would be sustainability. Not being behind the eight ball.

I am not a writer, but I feel that when our production company is successful, we'll be able to give some young writers with fresh voices an opportunity to put their work out there.