Francesca Annis Quotes

I don't need a piece of paper to suggest that I can commit myself.

There is not enough celebration of companionship. Relationships aren't just about eroticism and sexuality.

I don't think the media circus has ever been a shock to my life seeing as I was with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor when I was 17.

I'll dance to anything: Bob Marley or rap.

I can feel the 60S looming. In my profession, I've just moved along with my age. By thinking in decades, rather than whether someone's 42 or 47, you can give yourself a whole 10 years to turn yourself around in.

When I was starting out, young actresses had the studio system to protect them. Now you have a host of sharks, from your agent to your publicist to your lawyer.

I didn't choose to be an actress

It's funny, this thing about happiness. It's a commodity that was imported from America in the Fifties. I see myself simply as living my life. . . . I feel it's pushing your luck to define how happy you are.

I do find acting cathartic.

I've never been too afraid of what other people have said, especially when I was younger, but I suppose that was the arrogance of youth.

I was asked to be in Vogue but I said no. I didn't want to advertise make-up. I didn't want to be seen as a sex symbol.

Exposure makes you famous, not just good work. Famous is being plastered everywhere.

I was seen dancing at school by a director, who asked me to be in a TV play. And it had a huge impact. So I think thats what really started me off.

The minute anyone's getting anxious I say, You must eat and you must sleep. They're the two vital elements for a healthy life.

Each decade, I've lived in that decade, so I could easily shed the '20s, the '30s, the '40s.

Having children with someone is the real bond.

Judi Dench and Ian McKellen taught me how to work hard and respect the theatre.

I consulted a Chinese herbalist and spent two weeks on an island off the coast of Zanzibar. I was away from any kind of contemporary technology.

The funny thing is I'm not bothered or sad about being on my own - after all I've never had a husband.