Natascha McElhone

“I think the difference between finding happiness, or moments of happiness, is how you choose to interpret things. That's a rather shocking responsibility. That we're responsible for our own happiness. It's not those around us.”

“Some actors are like flowers basking in the sun - they love the attention, and the fans get what they want. With me it's different. I know the fans aren't getting what they want. And I'm certainly not getting what I want.”

“My stepfather introduced me to The London Library when I was about 18; the clientele has definitely changed since then, but it is still a wonderful oasis in the middle of London.”

“Living with very limited expectations is a much more immediate way of living. You really do just make the best of everything you have. I guess kids have that ability; they wait in joyful anticipation of something rather than that sense of entitlement.”

“סבתא שלי דאגה מאוד שלא הוטבלנו – אמא הייתה נואשת להימלט מהחינוך הקתולי שלה. אבל סבתא חשבה שאנחנו מרוסקים. בכל פעם שהגענו לביתה, היא הייתה מטילה עלינו מים קדושים – מהכלי ששמרה ליד הדלת – בתקווה שזה יציל אותנו מחורבן.”

“אני לא מאמינה בקטגוריה של מגדר, כי זה יוצר מחלוקת. אנשים תמיד אומרים, 'ככה הם גברים' או, 'זה מה שנשים עושות'; אני כלל לא מרגישה את זה.”

“אני מאוד שונה מאמא שלי. אני לא יפה כמוה, וגם לא – והיא כנראה מתייאשת מכך – מטופחת כמוה. בהחלט התקוממתי נגד רעיונה של להיראות מטופחת. ביליתי כמה שנים עם ראש מגולח בג'ינס וחולצות רחבות.”

“יש שחקנים שהם כמו פרחים שמתחממים בשמש – הם אוהבים את תשומת הלב, והמעריצים מקבלים את מה שהם רוצים. אצלי זה אחרת. אני יודעת שהמעריצים לא מקבלים את מה שהם רוצים. ואני בהחלט לא מקבלת את מה שאני רוצה.”

“תמיד חשבתי שאני אוהבת לעבוד, וידעתי בשלב מוקדם שאני רוצה להיות שחקנית. ואז אני פוגשת אנשים שבאמת הקדישו את חייהם למשחק, ואני מבינה שאני כל כך לגמרי במושב האחורי.”

“אני חושבת שחובה על שחקניות להביא משהו אחר לתפקיד שאינו בתסריט.”

“Mum left school at 15, and after a few years of modelling and dating jazz musicians, was married by 21 to my father, Mike Taylor, a journalist on the 'Daily Mirror.' They had my brother and me pretty quickly and had split up by the time I was two. I don't really have any memories of them as a couple.”

“Scribbling things down is my therapy. I filter later.”

“My concentration span is truly that of a gnat. Some people have this ladder, and that's all there is - the ladder. I have the ladder, too, but there's a building around it with scaffolding, and lots of windows for me to peek into. Then suddenly I'll remember, 'Oh, there's the ladder. I should be concentrating on that.'”

“I was brought up by a Marxist rationalist stepfather, so I don't believe in the supernatural or religion or horoscopes, and the absolute nature of death is quite helpful for me. My husband was there, then he wasn't.”

“I'm very different to my mum. I'm not as beautiful as she is, nor - she probably despairs about this - as groomed. I certainly rebelled against her idea of looking well turned-out. I spent several years with a shaved head in jeans and baggy shirts.”

“Death is final. No it is not just final, it's worse than that, it's diminishing: the dead continue to decrease, to occupy less space.”

“I play Nitin Sawhney's 'Letting Go' repeatedly, nonstop. I find it transformative. I'm so glad iPods were invented so I didn't have to drive everyone around me mad with the repetition.”

“I always think I love work, and I knew early on that I wanted to be an actress. Then I meet people who have truly dedicated their lives to acting, and I realise that I'm so completely in the back seat.”

“My kids always say to me, 'Can we watch TV?' I say, 'Absolutely!' because then I can get something done. But then they say, and I wait for it, 'But can you watch with us?' My moment of freedom vanishes. So not only do I not think TV's that great and I hate sitting in front of it, but I have to with them.”

“I feel awful for women who are trying to raise kids on their own, with zero income and no fathers present - that's single motherhood.”