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.

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.

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.

In theatre, there's the director, the writer, and below them the actor. In film, it's the actors who are most important. That goes against the grain for me.

To read is to renew thy mind.

You know someone's okay if they can ignore things they can't do anything about and move on.

You yourself must know how boring gravity is to oneself and everyone else.

The taipan is the one to watch out for. It is the most poisonous snake on Earth, with a lunge so swift and a venom so potent that your last mortal utterance is likely to be: "I say, is that a sn--

The fear of death comes from limited awareness.

Intimate knowledge of God is possible if we habitually search His Holy Scriptures & translate what we find into obedience.

The sympathy of most people consists of a mixture of good-humour, curiosity, and self-importance.

What bores the listener bores the speaker too.

Acquire wisdom from the story of those who have already passed.

I need my natural laziness to be counteracted by obsession in order to do anything.