The best job was when I was at drama school and I cleaned flats in the Barbican. I loved it. They were spotless anyway, so you'd just watch the telly and flick a duster around.

I'm a big-boned, athletic-looking woman, and I have to make the best of what I've got. I like to stay fit and healthy, but I could probably give myself a break sometimes.

I'll see a beautiful dress in a shop, and then I'll put it on and it looks dreadful because I'm just too curvy. I have to choose carefully - I steer clear of high necks and go for tailored, fitted things.

I think you can have your career and still bring to your family something very, very special. There are some people who are born mothers, who don't want to work and just want to stay at home, and that's fantastic, but for me it was something very difficult.

Marriage is hard, and it can be tough when you're both actors.

I've had to deal with my tragedies, and how you cope with them is what life's all about. You can choose to let them consume you or choose not to.

I love acting, but don't necessarily enjoy other aspects of the business. For me, going to celebrity parties is like work.

I don't think anyone's life is totally wonderful, however it looks from outside.

I hope I'm very similar to my mum because she is a fantastic mother. She was driven as well as being incredibly protective and caring, and I think that is important.

My earliest memory is of sitting at Mum's dance school, watching her teach a ballet class.