I couldn't be a one-woman show, since I wouldn't have anybody to bounce off from. Once you're out there, dribbling on, you have nobody to interrupt you. I love being part of a company, and telling a story.

I can't read scripts any more because of the trouble with my eyes.

It was good to learn so early. They're not going to be kind to you. You have to do it and get on, and then gulp down and get better.

It takes courage to recognize the real as opposed to the convenient.

I'm always fearful. … Fear generates in you a huge energy. You can use it. When I feel that mounting fear, I think, 'Oh, yes, there it is!' It's like petrol.

Everything, every part that you approach has to be somehow rooted in yourself. You have to somehow root everything so that it's not just words coming out of you.

I played Iris Murdoch, who had not long died, and I felt the responsibility very heavy on my shoulders.