Emilia Fox

“I'm not crazy about having lots of time to myself. Whenever I come back from filming away, I immediately want to go and see my friends and my family and re-establish my life. I can fill time when I'm alone, but I love being around other people.”

“I love the instantaneous nature of filming rather than the repetition of working in the theatre, but that maybe because I haven't had great experiences working in the theatre.”

“On my own or with a friend, I'm a shopaholic, and I particularly love the cleaning aisle in the supermarket. But when I'm with my husband, I'm shop shy because he can't bear it. It always ends up with us making a huge scene on the High Street and then going off in a huff in separate directions.”

“I've always had an enormous sense of independence. But I know that sometimes I can be too independent. It is important to be able to share your life - so that is a work in progress for me.”

“I've always believed in trying to be as open as possible. I think it almost comes with the job - if you can bare your emotions, it makes for better acting.”

“My parents instilled a really good work ethic from when I was little - if you want to have money to spend on holidays, you earn it. So I've always been someone who wanted to be able to survive by myself, but I think you have to let down the barriers a little bit - let other people in.”

“People think of me as a privileged young girl born to wear a chiffon party dress. I was born into a big acting family, and although I absolutely adore them, it's taken me time to work out how or where I feel comfortable.”

“I didn't realise my upbringing was unusual until my teens. As the child of two actors, I presumed that visiting film sets and being surrounded by colourful characters was normal.”

“When I go into the garden, I forget everything. It's uncomplicated in my world of gardening. It's trial and error, really. If something doesn't work, it comes out, and you start all over again.”

“My parents never pressured me except to advise me against acting.”

“I suppose my life has always been about pleasing people, making sure they're all right, doing the right thing. Then, suddenly, you have to face up to what you want and be honest about it.”

“I was an only child for 15 years and then this lovely present, Fred, came along. It was great - it meant I had my teenage years with a little one around.”

“I've always been brought up to stand on my own two feet and not rely too heavily on everyone else around me.”

“In acting, every day is different, and I guess it appeals to my storytelling imagination. But I've been very fortunate to get the chance to do what I want to do and earn a living from it to pay the mortgage.”

“The difficulty with film is you always have to consign a story to being a certain length, whereas with a book you don't have budget constraints; you can cast it yourself.”