Helen Mirren

“You write your life story by the choices you make. You never know if they have been a mistake. Those moments of decision are so difficult.”

“I drink just as much tea when I'm in Los Angeles as I do when I'm in London. I take my tea bags with me wherever I go.”

“It's so hard when you're young to look at older people and understand that they have been where you are. It's the weirdest thing. You just can't get your head around that, can you? You can't get your head around the fact that someone who is 60 was once 16, if you're 16. But the fact is they have been, and they remember it.”

“I have no maternal instinct whatsoever. Motherhood holds no interest for me.”

“Nothing is quite so emotional and passionate as what goes on inside of a family. People are driven to distraction by a father or a mother or a husband. Or a child.”

“Girls go out together to see a chick flick or something. I loathe, I hate, chick flicks.”

“I have done film, television and theatre - all at a pretty substantial level - I don't think it's possible for American actors to do that.”

“I believe in meditation - it's a good tool to centre yourself, but unfortunately, I'm too lazy to do it. It's very hard work, and I prefer to watch 'Nothing To Declare' on TV!”

“I prefer the finesse of French humour. English humour is more scathing, more cruel, as illustrated by Monty Python and Little Britain.”

“I've always found as an actress that the best thing to do in film or TV or theater is just to lose yourself in it. Think of the story, the character, the worlds we're in, and forget everything else.”

“The most important thing is to bring people with Parkinson's into our world and for the public to have a real understanding of it, as they're beginning to have with autism.”

“Parkinson's is a slow but inevitable process. It's hard living with it on a daily basis. The difficulty facing people with it is that they never quite know 'Can I or can't I do this today?'”

“I don't share lots of the phobias that horror movies tap into. I don't mind spiders or snakes or darkness.”

“I'd describe myself as a Christian who doesn't believe in God.”

“I am so happy that I didn't have children. Well, you know, because I've had freedom. And I've so loved my freedom.”

“All you have to do is to look like crap on film and everyone thinks you're a brilliant actress. Actually, all you've done is look like crap.”

“Everyone wants to be a movie star or a model, to be in the papers, but few realise just what hard work it is, getting up early, and so on.”

“The great marriages are partnerships. It can't be a great marriage without being a partnership.”

“Patience can be a good thing - but not necessarily. Sometimes it's not so bad to be impatient. I'm a little bit too polite.”

“I can't say 'no' to an interesting role. I always tell my husband, 'That's it, I quit, I've done all I wanted,' and he's just like, 'Yeah, yeah. Sure.'”