Janet McTeer

“I'd rather lose large than win slightly. I think life is an oil painting, not a watercolor.”

“We are a very close family, and I love them very much, but I'm definitely the odd one out. I live a completely different kind of life style. I always was different. I felt like a fish out of water; I really never knew who I was.”

“I find strong roles really interesting. Usually, that means the character is also clever.”

“Yes, I was slightly outside everything when I was growing up. My mother jokes that I was exchanged at birth. She brought us up to have traditional values. She was absolutely not part of the '60s generation.”

“There's a reason I live in the Maine woods, where nobody knows what I do for a living. I think you can be better if someone who's coming to see you perform has no idea who you really are.”

“I do mostly British projects, and for family reasons and life reasons Britain's my home, where I have a lovely garden.”

“But then I got a job selling coffee at the York Theatre, and when I met theatre people, something clicked. I felt comfortable with them; I felt like myself. I decided to go to drama school based just on that feeling. I had never done any acting.”

“Put a Post-It note on your mirror that says: 'Someone has to succeed. There's no reason why it shouldn't be me.' Repeat before every audition.”

“I did 'Tumbleweeds' for fun. I did it because I loved it and I hardly even got paid.”

“When you are old enough to... play powerful parts, who cares if you are 45, 55 or 65?”

“I've been very fortunate and never not worked.”

“It's naive to think there is a woman in the world who isn't brought up to believe that they are waiting for their soul mate. You even see it in Disney.”

“I'm always amazed when anybody remembers anything of my work, and even more so when I get nominated for something I've done. For many years, I was like a horse wearing a pair of blinkers as far as using these awards or nominations in order to boost my career was concerned.”

“British independent television is exactly the same as independent cinema. Very low budget, interesting, cutting edge stuff.”

“I'd love to play Hamlet.”

“When you're a young English person who wants to be an actress and you have dreams, you dream of being Vanessa Redgrave or Judi Dench.”

“I was incredibly self-conscious about the way I looked.”

“I've always thought if you watch the performance and you don't know about the person, then you only see the performance.”

“I've always thought it's the qualities of a person that matter. Not their breed, their shape, their color, their sexual preference, age... It's the qualities of their character.”

“I think you have to challenge yourself constantly. Otherwise, it's boring.”