Being middle-aged is about realising that you've lived most of your life. You don't have as much time in front of you as you have behind you.

My mom worked as a psychiatric social worker. She was interested in people, and I guess I am, too. So we would talk about the people that we knew, and why they behaved the way they did.

I think everybody's political. The act of being alive is political. Unless you choose to be a hermit, you're automatically political because you're part of a community.

Once I've ascertained that I'm safe and I'm with a director who is taking care of me, then I'm able to go and do what I need to do and know it's not me, it's the story.

In all of the movies and films you see, people are always in crisis because that's what we watch. We watch them deal with crisis and resolve it.

I think it's always hard to find great roles, no matter what age you are. So I always say to people, 'You have to remember that Hollywood is in the business of making movies that they can sell tickets to; they're not in the business of finding great roles for actors.'

When I was younger, I thought I had to shut myself off, work really hard to cry. I learned after a while that that's just not... You know, often in life, you cry when you're caught off-guard. That's where I need to be when I'm acting, too.

I have a husband and two kids, and they're usually around when I'm shooting, then I go home. We have dinner, and that's what I'm dealing with when I go home.

As an actor, all you have is what you know and what you see in other people. The more you know, and the more you've experienced, the more you're able to communicate to other people.

I'm not scared of many things in front of the camera. Everywhere else, yes, I'm terrified. But acting is just pretending, and you are exploring feelings in a safe environment.

I did find it particularly difficult to do Broadway. It was not my favourite way to perform. When I do theatre, I like it to be smaller. I like the audience to be closer; I like it to be less presentational.

The funny thing about my films is that you can make little piles of them. You could make little piles of the movie that were family movies, you could make a little art movie pile, you could make a little action movie pile.

Travelling childhoods are a common theme among actors. Army kids, embassy kids, travelling salesmen, clergy. Thing is, you learn about behaviour, that different places are separated by behaviours which are culturally driven.

You'd have to spend a lot of time with me before I'd be comfortable enough to show my dark side.

I love going to Scotland.

I have women friends who are significantly younger and older than me.

Too much makeup on an older woman can really make you look like a freak.

I was somebody who was not athletic. I was highly imaginative; I loved to read, and I loved nothing more than being in a story... I didn't want to play ball; I wanted to imagine something and read something.

When the computer and tablets are all about playing games, that's not interesting to me.

Every child is so different. Their experience growing up and their experience relating to the world has so much to do with their temperament, and their likes and their dislikes.

In my opinion, you don't get to have privacy when you're only 16!

It's hard to keep the romance going sometimes. Because you have a job. And you have children. And you have a house and a dog. And something leaks in the basement, and somebody has to take the dog to the vet... you're exhausted.

We allow for many more gradations of personality in life than we do in art.

I think people are always really surprised when they realise I'm not a very serious person and that I'm not tremendously serious about acting. I don't like to rehearse; I hate improv. Directors that don't like to talk, they're my favourite ones.

'Safe' was a script that I read and flipped out for.

Green screen's not my favourite thing to do.

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

When one door closes, another window opens.

Behaving like a princess is work. It's not just about looking beautiful or wearing a crown. It's more about how you are inside.

Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly.

Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.

Who could have imagined that life would have taken such marvelous twists and turns or that I would often be so fortunate to be in the right place at the right time?

All love shifts and changes. I don't know if you can be wholeheartedly in love all the time.

Sometimes I'm so sweet even I can't stand it.

The arts bridge cultures; they're good for the economy, and they're good for fostering empathy and decency.

Whenever I think of my birthplace, Walton-on-Thames, my reference first and foremost is the river. I love the smell of the river; love its history, its gentleness. I was aware of its presence from my earliest years. Its majesty centered me, calmed me, was a solace to a certain extent.

Like most girls, I fantasized about being some sort of a princess.

I love my garden. I love my privacy. I'm very fierce about it. I try not to let too many people into my home. That's my private place.

I think every young girl at some point in her early life wonders what it's like to be a princess. They like the idea of dressing up and the fun of it.

You just don't know in life. Life knocks you about and pushes you over boundaries. But be ready. Do your homework; that's all I can say.

I had a teacher who stressed for me the importance of diction in terms of... I want to be very careful about how I say this... in terms of supporting one's voice when one is singing. In other words, if you hold on to your words, your voice will pull through for you when you're singing. So be true to your vowels.

I hate the word wholesome.

I love that President and Mrs. Obama are embracing the arts. I am so delighted.

Did you ever notice the color of Mary Poppins' petticoats? They were kind of orange and apricot and red. I think she had a secret life going on there.

I'm never sure one is exactly ready. You jump in, with both feet, into a very big fish pond.

I am told that the first comprehensible word I uttered as a child was 'home.'

I think birth and motherhood are not things that you're trained to do. You might have a good example in your own mum, but nobody teaches you how to be a really great mum.

I don't want to be thought of as wholesome.

I am an optimistic lady.

I do wish somewhere there was a film of our stage production of 'My Fair Lady.'