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 that as you get older, you become aware of everything that could go wrong.

I tend to opt for relaxed family holidays when I can.

I'm an appalling flyer. I get very tense, although I no longer weep uncontrollably for no reason - I just sob if there's turbulence.

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.