I don't really want to retire. I intend to go on working as long as I can because I still have a huge amount of energy.

I once said to someone when I was playing Lady Macbeth and they said: "That's tricky, emotionally, what do you do about murdering your husband's cousin?" And there are, of course, things that aren't in your personal repertoire that you have to somehow understand by reading or watching other things and listening to other people talk about them.

I started off as a theatre designer, and by some extraordinary circumstance I saw something in Stratford-upon-Avon, and realized that that's the kind of design I want, but also that that's the kind of designer I'll never be.

Never fall out of love with life

I don`t like reading scripts very much. I like it better for someone to just explain to me what it is about this story.

I think you've got to have your feet planted firmly on the ground, especially in this business, and you must not believe things that are said or written about you, because everything gets out of proportion one way or the other.

People seem to have this idea that I've always been very ambitious. Nothing could be further from the truth.