I don't agree with the whole 'my mother's my friend' approach, because you're their mum and there has to be a difference between the generations.

My parents were not theatrical at all.

Of all the things I do, acting is the thing that grabs most, but there's another level on which it strikes me as being a little silly. In the end you're dressing up and deciding to be somebody.

I am proud of my cake-making image but life is not that perfect. There are socks in my fruit bowl.

I swim more or less every day.

The rehearsal time is almost my favourite part of being an actress, particularly if you're working on a play that hasn't been done before.

I look at myself objectively and in a way I see myself as a commodity. Your name becomes somehow outside yourself. Now, when I'm at home being Mrs. Scarfe, that's when I'm most myself.