Emilia Fox

“I was quite shy when I was younger, but I'm not one of those people who can complain of a bad childhood or any trauma. There was none in my life. I had a wonderfully happy childhood.”

“Being a mum is the best thing that has ever been given to me in my life.”

“I'm not very good at time off. I'm happier when I'm working. It's something to do with not knowing what the next job is, so you appreciate it while it's there. I thrive on it, actually. But now I do it to please myself.”

“When I was growing up, I wanted to be my half-sister Lucy. She was 14 years older than me and was impossibly glamorous. I grew up in awe of her.”

“Every day I fantasise about situations and little themes I see in front of me that would make a good beginning of a story. But one has to be disciplined and just sit down and do it.”

“Older men are wiser and that is much cooler to me. I've never been one for going out clubbing or getting off my head, so I always gravitated to men who were similar. They just tended to be older. I think you have more of an adventure with an older man. And a happier journey.”

“I am a single mother - that is the reality.”

“I met Jack Nicholson when I was about 10 at a party of my uncle's, and it wasn't so much that I knew his films because I was small, but he wore sunglasses inside at night and I thought that must mean he was very important and was suitably star struck by his charismatic presence.”

“My mother was very ill when I was 18. She had a brain operation and then a nervous breakdown. It's very strange when you see your parents, who have always been your pillars of strength, suddenly become vulnerable. You don't know whether to be angry that they are not strong or devastated.”

“I have a heart tattoo on the inside of my middle finger on my left hand.”

“My grandmother, Angela, was the Fox family matriarch. She was magnetic but also wicked. She had this huge life force and was great fun, but she would play each member of the family off against each other, which could make for extremely dramatic Christmases.”

“I'm the joke of the family with cooking because I've never done it - primarily because I've been surrounded by people who are so good at it. Mum's brilliant. Boyfriends have always been good at it. I'm waiting for my inner chef to be released.”

“I read all the Agatha Christies when I was younger and like Sherlock Holmes. Crime fiction has always fascinated me, but I'll read anything anyone gives me.”

“Only out of great vulnerability do you discover what strength you have. Having a daughter who I love with all my being has helped me mine the source of that strength to previously unknown depths.”

“I made it to Oxford, but it is not that I am particularly clever, much more that I am a worker bee.”

“I just get up and live my life for today - try and deal with it as it comes.”

“When I was four, we had to choose a musical instrument to play at school, and I chose the cello. I played until I was 18, and although I found it nerve-racking to play solo, I loved playing in an orchestra. When I left school I didn't carry on with it, which I regret.”

“I never feel lonely if I've got a book - they're like old friends. Even if you're not reading them over and over again, you know they are there. And they're part of your history. They sort of tell a story about your journey through life.”

“I'd really like to visit India and South America. I think India will be a great mix of sightseeing and relaxing, and I've got a feeling it will also be good for one's soul and spirit. And I'd love to go backpacking around South America at some point. I did that in Australia when I was younger, and the camaraderie was great fun.”

“I am too much of a control freak to be a drinker.”