Laughter is a celebration of our failings. That's what clowns are for. And that's what I am.

Sometimes you'll have some things, and sometimes you'll have other things. And you do not need it all at once; it's not good for you.

It’s about time a 55-year-old British woman is the heroine of an action movie. I may have to write it.

I think my first bout of that was when I was doing me and My Girl, funnily enough. I really didn't change my clothes or answer the phone, but went into the theatre every night and was cheerful and sang the Lambeth Walk. She said: “The only thing I could do was write. I used to crawl from the bedroom to the computer and just sit and write, and then I was alright, because I was not present. “Sense and Sensibility really saved me from going under, I think, in a very nasty way.

Is love a fancy or a feeling.... or a Ferrars?

If you're actually allowing your creative part to control your writing rather than a more commercial instinct or motive, then you'll find that all sorts of interesting things will bubble up to the surface.

Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn't listening.