A biography for Francesca Annishasn’t been written yet.
“So many stars lose their way, and with success become more neurotic, not less so.”
“I can feel the 60S looming. In my profession, I've just moved along with my age. By thinking in decades, rather than whether someone's 42 or 47, you can give yourself a whole 10 years to turn yourself around in.”
“Judi Dench and Ian McKellen taught me how to work hard and respect the theatre.”
“Sometimes sushi is just superb, and other times there's nothing like a great big steak. It depends where your taste buds are at the time.”
“I maintain the rather old-fashioned view that this is my work and it's in the public arena, but that doesn't entitle everyone to know what happened at home before coming here.”
“I was always going to be a dancer - I drifted into acting.”
“I'm trying to learn to smoke, which is rather weird when everyone is trying to stop. I'm not a smoker. But my character only smokes as an affectation.”
“Too often, older women are seen as victims, but I know lots of formidable women who have marvellous jobs as well as a full erotic life, and children and friends and family.”
“Fame and stardom sat very easily on Elizabeth Taylor's shoulders.”
“You have to be careful not to let your fear stop you doing things. It's very exciting to test yourself.”
“I didn't choose to be an actress.”
“My mother was madly adventurous. My father was an actor - he worked with Gielgud - and my mother came from a very wealthy family. She definitely wasn't meant to marry an actor, but she eloped with him one lunch-time.”
“I'll dance to anything: Bob Marley or rap.”
“My children were brought up with their grandparents, and I was brought up with my grandparents. I think the continuity of moving through life together gives people a certain pride and sense of security.”
“Thank God we're not like America. Everyone wants to look like they're 20. In Europe we admire grown-up women; I think men revere older women.”
“I think people have surgery for psychological reasons more than because of their looks.”
“I am pretty self-indulgent.”
“I turned down a lot of films.”
“However successful you are, there is no substitute for a close relationship. We all need them.”
“I'm an actress, not a pinup.”