“I think American drama is at its best when it takes the domestic and makes it epic, like a Greek tragedy in the front room.”
“I was quite shy. I used to write stories all the time, and I think that was a worry for my parents.”
“There are some roles you just don't say 'no' to. Those compass points: you get them so rarely as an actress.”
“When I started drama school, theatre was the main draw. I never had any movie star notions. Not that there were family ties to the theatre, either.”
“You can't worry too much about profile; otherwise, you become a different kind of actor, and that's not the kind of actor I want to be.”
“I was very lucky in that my parents were very broad-minded. Because they had come from another country and hadn't been able to fulfill their dreams, they wanted me to be more of myself, if you know what I mean.”
“I only went along to youth theatre with a friend when I was young to try to make myself a bit more sociable. But the whole thing was quite sore; it really hurt me trying to get into drama school. It was a world I knew nothing about - it was very middle class; all that usual stuff. But I was young, determined, and I just went for it.”
“I suppose it's whether you want to be a famous person, or whether you want to be an actor. You have to decide what your priorities are. Great actor, huge star. Sometimes, the two walk hand in hand. Most of the time, they don't.”
“I'm a right pain in the hole for my agent. I won't take certain parts if I think they're offensive or banal. For instance, I won't do a film if I think it's full of violence for violence's sake, or a television drama if I don't think it's intelligent writing.”
“In theatre, there's the director, the writer, and below them the actor. In film, it's the actors who are most important. That goes against the grain for me.”