I never wanted to become an actress because I'd read great literature or seen great Shakespeare. It was more just wanting to understand what the people were really like, why they said all the strange things they did.

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

Being a mother adds another emotional dimension, a feel for children that I didn't have before I had one. They were a pain before.

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

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

There were all us baby boomers who had a grammar school education, started to learn, then went on the pill, the whole thing, and so there are today a lot more women writers, editors, producers, and so a lot more women's stories. God, the BBC's practically run by women.

Shakespeare - it's not funny. No matter how they try to make Shakespeare funny, when it's meant to be funny it's not funny.