I adore acting; it's in my blood - quite literally - but I can honestly say the most creative thing in the world for me is being a mother.

As a child, I always remember our home, which was a flat just on the Barnes side of Hammersmith Bridge in London, buzzing with actors such as Patrick McGee and Peter Bowles. We were a family who were always on the go.

I get so nervous before I go on stage that I can never eat very much, so I'm always completely starving afterwards and dying for a bowl of pasta.

I think one of the most important things I can give my children is the right to be themselves.

Not a lot of people know this, but I'm very good at mathematics. When I was an angry teenager, I used to sit in my room and do quadratic equations to calm myself down.

Nobody can prepare you for the loss of a parent.

My nickname is Bondy. But not because of the Bond films - it was my surname a long time before I did those.