Glenda Jackson

“What interested me, was that as we age, those seemingly unbreakable barriers that define us, our gender, they begin to crack, to blur; they're not absolutes anymore.”

“My mother kept all my awards on the sideboard of her front room, and she polished them. She polished everything religiously. And it doesn't take long for the very thin layer of gold to disappear and the base metal underneath to show through.”

“My fear with 'Lear' was that I would not have the physical or vocal strength. But this play, it's all in your head. That was one of the really interesting things when we were rehearsing it: We were all exhausted because it was all up here.”

“No, I'm not recognized in London. What would people recognize?”

“No, I didn't think of myself as an idealist. I consider myself as a believer in what I regard as the Labour Party's basic principles, which have to do with equality and 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. You know, the golden rules.”

“I find it extraordinary that contemporary dramatists don't find women interesting. Women are rarely, if ever, the central dramatic engine; they're there as an adjunct, and that hasn't changed at all.”

“Acting is not about dressing up. Acting is about stripping bare. The whole essence of learning lines is to forget them so you can make them sound like you thought of them that instant.”

“I want to do a musical movie. Like Evita, but with good music.”

“I turn my feet in when I'm sitting down. I tend to put my arms across me when I'm sat thinking; I bend forwards. Loads of protective curves.”

“My life was transformed by the Labour government of 1945. It was transformative for millions of people like me, you know - education, the health service. It was proof that politics can make life better for people; that a social dream can become a social reality by the power of government.”

“I have never believed you make your case stronger by bad-mouthing your opposition.”

“You can go onto that stage every night, and it's always the equivalent of going onto the topmost diving board, and you don't know if there's any water in the pool.”

“The best teacher is an audience. The ideal performance is when that group of strangers sitting in the dark gets energy from the group in the light and sends energy back to us. When it really works, a perfect circle is formed.”

“I look forward to growing old and wise and audacious.”

“If I'm too strong for some people, that's their problem.”

“When I have to cry, I think about my love life. When I have to laugh, I think about my love life.”

“I told them I wouldn't sign a blank cheque.”

“I used to believe that anything was better than nothing. Now I know that sometimes nothing is better.”

“Our job is to unleash the play. It's not just about your character or interaction with the other characters. There's an energy in all good plays which you have to find. And that is part and parcel of ensuring that an audience gets what it's about.”

“Men can be a great deal of work for very little reward.”