We've always been involved with America - I have a son who lives there and it's a big part of my life.

When I'm really into a novel, I'm seeing the world differently during that time— not just for the hour or so in the day when I get to read. I'm actually walking around in a haze, spellbound by the book and looking at everything through a different prism.

My singing voice is somewhere between a drunken apology and a plumbing problem.

I often think it can often be very difficult for comedians to revisit the same gag. I think Russell's a bit more than a comedian.

My looks aren't something that come dazzlingly through in everything I do. I can be made to look one way or the other fairly easily... I am still not recognised on the street that much.

Sometimes to think about why some institutions are stable, it's interesting to go one generation back and look at the author of that stability.

When I look in the mirror, I don't see my Dad, I see my grandmother. For a while it was my mother looking back at me. If only it was my Dad.