As soon as I saw the play I knew I wanted to play Flora. I fell for-it goes for the guts of an emotion but isn't at all sentimental.
As we have more women in power, so the plays and the TV dramas are reflecting what's happening.
Every woman feels she is too old and has missed the boat.
For me, compatibility is a sense of humour, being able to laugh together; that is very important.
I do still get the odd fan letter about The Good Life, clearly written by somebody aged 18, who says: Will you send a photograph? And I think: Maybe it's kinder not to. I'm deeply into my 50s now.
I do worry about long life, I really do-especially after my sister died of cancer. I have check-ups for cancer; it's still the one thing that frightens me.
I hope to start enjoying flirting again when I'm 70, like my mother did.
I never saw myself as a sex symbol.
I think you have to relax about aging. What else can you do?
I used to wish I was recognised more as somebody who was bringing up a kid by myself. Underneath, I'm as bluestocking as the rest of them.
I want to change the furniture and look at townhouses. I've got two men who want everything to stay exactly the same.
I was once cast in a stage play as a lesbian in a black bikini opposite a lesbian in a white bikini; I was the baddie in the black bikini.
I'd never considered taking over before. Doing a part fresh is interesting; stepping into someone else's shoes isn't.
I'm sure people in the business have said: She's too old for that part. I don't hear about it because your agent protects you from those negative things.
It is those younger Shakespearean roles-Ophelia and Miranda-who are the real pills. Thank goodness I am too old to play Miranda.
It was always a struggle to look OK. I've always seen myself as a grey character who is quite independent and keeps on working.
So many roles for women demand that you make the audience fall in love with you or sympathise with you.
Success breeds success, and failure leads to a sort of fallow period.
The girl-next-door image is a sort of joke; for years, I couldn't get any roles other than as somebody dark.
The moment has passed. It would be slightly embarrassing to marry again now. We both have the same attitude-don't fix what's not broken. Perhaps we're not good at marriage anyway.
When I was little I always thought I was marked out, special, on the verge of something momentous. I used to tingle with anticipation.
When I was much younger, I sometimes felt rejected by feminists because of an image that I sold because it paid the bills. Any fool could tell my hair is dyed.
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