It wasn't being an alcoholic - it was going wild. It happened when I got famous. It was like having my teens in my early thirties: blotting out your life, not having to think about anything.

You can't help but feel a little bit like a mother to the younger cast members.

The way I relax is I think, 'I haven't got anything coming up.' I like to know there are months ahead when I've got nothing.

I keep seeing myself in my daughter, and I see my mother in me and in her. Bloody hell.

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.

My mother was born on a tiny farm in County Mayo. She was meant to stay at home and look after the farm while her brother and sister got an education. However, she came to England on a visit and never went back.

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