I do realise how incredibly lucky I am.

At 19, you know everything; by the time you're 40, you haven't got a clue.

I certainly couldn't run a big country house, nor could I organize the greatest show on earth.

In Britain, the press want to kill a show by revealing what's coming up and spoiling the pleasure.

For the last episode [of Downton Abbey], you'll need some handkerchiefs. I needed handkerchiefs reading it. It wasn't because it necessarily moved me while reading it, but it was the experience of reading it when I realized it was the last time I was ever going to be reading one of those scripts. That was quite terminal.

At home I have a Tibetan terrier. I'm still not sure if he's a genius or very thick. It's a fine line.

I do realise how incredibly lucky I am.