I suppose it's whether you want to be a famous person, or whether you want to be an actor. You have to decide what your priorities are. Great actor, huge star. Sometimes, the two walk hand in hand. Most of the time, they don't.

I think American drama is at its best when it takes the domestic and makes it epic, like a Greek tragedy in the front room.

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.

I think age is sometimes just a number. But it's a real joy. Young actors don't come with any of the baggage that we load ourselves up with. They're not worried about their profile, they're not worried about how good they look, or all the nonsense. They just tell the story and ask: "What happens in this scene?" Well, I'll do that then. And professionally it's good for you because it means that you're forced to do the same thing, and that's always a good thing.

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.

People at a point of conflict are always the most interesting stories to tell.

I think creative people need to do a bit of, you know, tuning into every radio station - you just do, otherwise you don't know much about other people. You kind of have to learn a bit about yourself so you can work out how we all behave and why we do the things we do.