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

I'd like to think there'll be too much of real life going on for me to want to do much acting.

I read "Pride and Prejudice" [by Jane Austen]. I was gobsmacked by it - it's so funny and so modern. Unbelievable. You don't expect funny to come through after 200 years - humor doesn't transcend decades, let alone centuries.

I didn't come into the business to get awards or titles.

Suddenly, you are very much in the present, and you learn it's really the place where you should always live.

Along the way I have been able to choose some themes which ask questions - not necessarily force a message on anyone, but at least invite the audience to question things: jury service, dignity in dying, Ireland - and not least because they force me to ask myself questions. Where do I stand?

I don't want to give up acting - it's what I am.