The old guys like me started in the theatre. I was in the theatre for nine years.

In my opinion, everybody is getting older and older. We have a great deal of dementia because nobody grew old enough to get it.

I don't like getting up early in the morning and learning all that stuff. I work with offers that I can't refuse.

My mum never understood how much I earned. When I told her I earned a million pounds a film, she said, 'How much is that?'

To me, 'Educating Rita' is the most perfect performance I could give of a character who was as far away from me as you could possibly get and of all the films I have ever been in, I think it may be the one I am most proud of.

I don't have any regrets because I'm very optimistic, and live each day as though it's the last.

I never bring a role home with me. The moment they say, 'It's a wrap,' it's gone completely. I'm a totally ruthless professional, and life is my family, not my work.