Shakespeare's work is like a good song: you never really forget the main lines.

For years, I was often afraid to speak up when I didn't fully understand a script. I'd tie myself in knots.

If Shakespeare was around today I would ask him out to dinner. The only thing I don't like about him is the way he did his hair.

Shakespeare's work is like a good song: you never really forget the main lines.

I think the success of 'Downton' is partly because there are effectively 18 leading characters, all given equal importance, so it's enormously involving on many levels. But also, it's a new story. It's not like Dickens or Austen, where everyone knows the denouement.

When I was a child, I went to stage school three times a week in the evenings - singing, ballet, tap, modern and acting, and I loved it.

In the early '20s, with the war over, there was a period of celebration, and you can see it in the fashion.