I'll tell you how it happened. The phone rang. Paul, my agent, goes, 'Would you like to play Meryl Streep's?' I said, 'Yeeees! I'll do it, whatever it is.' He said, 'It's Mamma Mia!.' I said, 'Oh no, which character? The fat friend?

There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'

It's getting better but men still earn more and there are more jobs for them. Ageism is a big thing. Parts for women disappear as you get older.

Debate is so much better than denial.

I was the little, funny one. I felt I was the child among grown women.

I wanted above all else not to be like my mum.

I think comedy's something you can't learn. It's an instinct, which makes it rather elusive.