Honeysuckle Weeks

“When 'Foyle's War' ended in 2010 after seven series, I was sad but not despondent. After all, ITV had already axed the show once in 2007, then brought it back due to public demand.”

“I tried doing yoga, but I have dislocating shoulders, one of which has been pinned, so I find things such as yoga and pilates, where you have to stretch quite high up with your arms and things, quite difficult.”

“'In many ways, I was born a hundred years too late. I often feel out of kilter with the modern world.”

“Politics is not a game for naive thinkers. You may go in as an idealist, but you certainly won't come out as one.”

“If you live in the countryside, you understand that hunting isn't just for toffs. It's for the farmers. It's for everyone's enjoyment.”

“'Foyle's War' made me realise that Churchill actually had questionable morals; his decisions meant that good people died. It must have weighed heavily on his soul, but he never let his personal demons get in the way of what was best for our country.”

“I loved the energy of Dublin and the fact that it's so close to the sea, with beauty spots such as Howth so close to hand.”

“I have always been a fan of Jim Henson, and I love his Creature Shop creations, the skill of the puppets and the characters he creates.”

“I think Emily Blunt is definitely our finest young female English export. She has an uncanny grace.”

“All my grandparents and great aunts and uncle love 'Foyle's War.' They all lived through the war and love to see it reconstructed so authentically.”

“My uncle worked in emergency wards dealing with people who came in with terrible injuries. He talked about the sketch shows they would put on to lighten the atmosphere. You often find this sense of grim humor in hospitals. The injuries people are suffering are ghastly. You have to laugh at something or you'd otherwise cry.”

“The coral that grows at the edge of the reef is always the strongest and most colourful because it faces the greatest battering. It's the same if you're called Honeysuckle. I'd have had a totally different life if I'd been called Mary.”

“London is not a healthy place. I feel much healthier when I'm living in the countryside or, indeed, anywhere out of London. When I go back to the countryside to visit my mother, I get out of the car, and suddenly there's great wafts of fresh air.”

“My parents wanted to be actors. They tried for years but didn't get anywhere. Then Mum got pregnant with me and they decided to make actors out of their children. You need your parents' support if you're going to do it. Otherwise who's going to ferry you to castings?”

“I've had a wonderful time in 'Foyle's War' and I don't mind being typecast. But I'm not prim. I'm chaotic, happy, and desperate to have some laughs. I'd love to do a comedy next, or something modern.”

“My father was a tyrant about reading, and that put me off books when I was little.”

“Acting's incredibly enjoyable, but sometimes it doesn't feel quite enough. I've also written a script about the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. This will make me sound like a female Kenneth Branagh, but I can't think of anything nicer than directing myself from a script I wrote.”

“My dad had a small suitcase stuffed with photos, mementoes from wherever he'd traveled as a Royal Navy gunner. Not that he gunned very much, as it turned out. I'd haul it out and go through it time and time again.”

“My health is important to me. I run with my dog, twice or three times a week.”

“WI played a young Helena Bonham Carter in a BBC film called 'A Dark Adapted Eye,' and I thought she was a completely spellbinding person. Totally unmoved by other people's expectations, fashions or opinions. She's probably the coolest English actress there is. Incredibly idiosyncratic.”