I used to look out the window of my bedroom as a kid, and there were these stars that, in my mind, made a big "A" in the sky. I thought my destiny was to go there.

The poor Oscars - they always get slammed in the press.

I'm not a communist, of course. But I do think that everything is down to economics. Capitalism doesn't change.

I've been working every year since I started acting, and I got many awards before I won the Oscar for 'The Queen.'

As an actor, those are the roles that you long for. You always want something that's going to kick your last role out of the water and put you off on a new path.

I met with Hitchcock when I was a very, very young actress just starting out and he was making 'Frenzy' in London and I was sent along to meet with him. He was very, very unimpressed with me and I have to say, I was rather unimpressed with him - but only because I was an arrogant, ignorant young actress.

I feel the written word, poetry and literature is just one of the most beautiful things that human beings do. So we have to fight for it.