Sort of what you do in drama school when asked to play something way out of your reach. Anyway, we used to laugh a lot about that. I used to say I'm not going to act old, Penelope. I'll just be myself.
Maggie SmithIt seems to me there is a change in what audiences want to seeโฆI can only hope thatโs correct, because thereโs an awful lot of people of my age around now and we outnumber the others.
Maggie SmithPeople think of you differently if you've been in their homes. They think they own you because they watched you while they were eating dinner, or they can turn you up or down, or even freeze you.
Maggie SmithI like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost - it's there and then it's gone.
Maggie SmithI find it very difficult to do anything on my own now because people recognize me. This has never happened to me before because I haven't really done television before. But I suppose if you're in people's rooms all the time, I don't know - I was thinking the other night with people like DiCaprio and, you know, those big stars and Cate Blanchett, and you just think how did they exist? It's so difficult. And I think now it's very intrusive because of these cellphones, you know, with cameras.
Maggie Smith