I managed to slip two children out in the middle of my career and have been lucky with all the work.

It's one of the oldest theatrical adages: never work with children or animals.

I grew up without the rose-tinted look at the profession many of my friends had, but I've been very lucky playing major roles in 'An Ideal Husband', 'Arcadia' and 'The Memory of Water'.

The middle-aged woman is the ground bed of the audience that watches television, and yet they are absolutely invisible.

The big thing that Moneypenny changed was the amount of charity work that I was able to be involved with.

If I pop off and do something drastic, everyone's going to realise because they know I'm 50. Anyway, middle-aged women are sensational.