America is such a nation of suppressed emotion, and when you arrive in L.A., you can smell the fear. It's the most alien country I've ever been to.

I feel as though my life is bathed in golden sunlight. And the really wonderful thing is that I know it.

I was a real art freak when I was a teenager.

As I've got older, I feel more confident in my body, so wouldn't want to tamper with it.

People who are exceptionally intelligent are often lonely because there are few people as intelligent as them. I have two little children and everyone says: 'I hope they're doing well in school. I hope they're bright.' And I think: why would anyone want their children to be the brightest? Academia is a lonely world.

To be honest, my husband and my children are my best friends.

I'm half Scottish, half Welsh and I regard red hair as perfectly ordinary. And to set the record straight, contrary to reports, he has never referred to himself as the 'Ginger Ninja'.