Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Celebrity and actor are two completely different professions, and I don't believe that they mix if you want to maintain any sort of credibility.
Am I attracted to people who want to give other people a voice? Yes I am, and that may be a 'common denominator with the characters that I play.
I have never known what it feels like to wake up in the morning full of the joys of spring, and wander through the day feeling capable of coping.
I can tell very early on, reading a script, within six or seven pages, whether I'm looking at real people, and whether I can see and hear real people.
During a performance of 'Blood Brothers' in 1990, I forgot to sing. I was so moved by what my co-star Kiki Dee was doing, that I completely missed my cue.
I only did five or six weeks in 'Guys and Dolls,' and when I was 26 or so, I was in 'Blood Brothers' for a year on the West End, playing Linda, with Kiki Dee.
Children are part of the natural pattern of life. For centuries people have been having children and going to work. You get on with it, that's what life's about.
It started at 49 with 'Tango in Halifax' and then 'Happy Valley.' I can't complain at a time when most actors are disappearing. I seem to have become very visible.
I don't search it out - I really want to be clear, I don't search out the misery! I'm not sitting at home going, 'I can't wait to do another harrowing piece of work.'
I think this country is terribly, horribly obsessed with age, and it really is just this country. If you're still living and breathing at 50, then count your blessings!
In my early days depression did inhibit me because I was too debilitated and terrified to tell anyone why I couldn't get on a train from Manchester for auditions in London.
Anyone who has to be accountable in a time when resources are shrinking, where transparency is necessary, where the pressures are greater, is going to find that it takes a toll.
Being in the public eye makes you frightened to talk openly about things - which is precisely why you should. You can really make a difference and open up subjects that are taboo.
I love swing, jazz, blues, standards. I love the American songbook, Gershwin, Berlin. It's all that. So I'm born in the wrong era and I just don't fit into the 21st century at all.
You know when a script is good but you don't have any knowledge how visually it is going to look. When this [Happy Valley] came out and I saw the first episode and thought it was terrific.
But I am Northern myself, and there is a certain rhythm of Northern speech that is very comical: that combination of the choice of language and the speech rhythm, which in itself is very funny.
It's wonderful when you happen across it as an actor, finding a young actor that is literally just starting out and you understand that to them the craft is the most important aspect of the job.
'Kiri' reflects the society we're living in now, where everything has to be transparent and people are under so much pressure. The scrutiny is extraordinary and you really get a sense of panic emerging.
I'm not very good at watching myself. I look at it and I think, 'Oh, they've used the wrong take.' My job is over and it's not healthy to sit there and scrutinize your work as you're invariably unhappy!
I need to grow as an actor. The wonderful thing is you never stop learning, and as my only interest is trying to perfect what I do, it's wonderful because I'll never succeed, so I'll have to keep working.
Soaps are a double-edged sword. There can be prejudice from some writers and producers who feel you will lower the currency of their work if you've been in one. You have to rise above such ludicrous prejudice.
When you pretend for a living and you have to pretend in your private life as well, it's very sad. Because it's intangible, depression is an issue that people don't like to talk about. It's like a huge, guilty secret.
My father was a TV scriptwriter. He would perform his dialogue out loud, while my mum transcribed it at the typewriter. So I grew up thinking that plucking characters out of the air was an extremely normal way to behave.
I own a copy of the original 'Talking Heads' by Alan Bennett, which I purchased many years ago shortly after they were first broadcast. It's been lovingly well-thumbed over the years. They are magnificent. A masterpiece.
The writing is only ever the attractive thing about a part. And also if all the elements within the writing come together - the character and the structure and the narrative - if they are all there then you become excited.
You start out with scripts pre-written, with no specific actor in mind, so you've got to build a character on top of that foundation. It's not just lifting words off the page, it's constructing a history around them as well.
I got married only because I was pregnant. Simple as that. I am a very traditional girl and was horrified at the thought of having a child out of wedlock. I didn't want a child of mine to be different or have fingers pointed at.
I won't say I'll never go back to a soap because an actor's life is so precarious. You can have the most wonderful patch where everyone wants to work with you, and in the blink of an eye the phone won't ring for a month, even a year.
You have to have brilliant people to work opposite, and then it does become like a real tennis match and this is our sport. With somebody like Mark Lewis Jones, who is extraordinary anyway, you just know it's going to be a good match.
When you receive a script and it leaps out at you and it's breathing with its own heartbeat - I suppose when you read something like that it's not a choice of whether you do it or don't. It feels like it chooses you, so you just do it.
Sometimes it's necessary for soaps to hang on to an audience by sensationalizing, but it's a beast I don't understand any more, an art form that has fostered extraordinary talent. It's a great arena to learn your craft before you move on.
It's not something I'm embarrassed about. Depression is an issue that tends to be brushed under the carpet. My hope is that if people with a public profile are prepared to talk about it, then it might prompt other people to talk about it too.
I think going to university, getting married, having children, and then having the choice to stay at home to raise those children is a very valid one for women and they shouldn't be castigated for it. It's a great job. Not many men would do it.
To be asked to perform a new 'Talking Head' was beyond any expectation. The matchless brilliance of Alan Bennett's words coupled with the extraordinary wisdom of Nick Hytner's direction made this a thrilling and quite simply unforgettable experience, and I'm enormously grateful.
The roles do get fewer as you get older. That's the same for all professions, there's fewer roles for people later in life. I don't think it should be like that because as long as you are able to do your job then people should keep working with you. It shouldn't come down to age.
You don't always realize the impact you have on people's lives. You just think 'I'm an actor, I don't think I'm doing anything particularly important in life' and then you suddenly realize that actually for a fleeting moment you do make a difference to somebody's life - it has an impact.
Being an actor can be a cruel experience because there is no cooling-down period. You can be involved in something that's incredibly intense, but then it's a wrap and you've finished and you go home. I find it difficult to complete a job and then return to reality and find my healthy place.