Phyllida Lloyd

“I realized that I didn't think I could stand the psychological battering that actors have to withstand. I just felt I wasn't cut out for that kind of self-promotion.”

“I was hellbent on going to drama school, but my mother, rightly, panicked and persuaded me to go to university on the grounds that a degree would be 'something to fall back on.' Whilst at college, I realised I wasn't good enough or robust enough to be an actress.”

“In Europe, it is not so unusual for directors to move between opera, theatre, and film, and I have at least three girlfriends I can think of who have directed in all three genres.”

“I wanted to be an actress from about the age of five.”

“I didn't really realize I was a woman director until I walked onto the set at Pinewood Studios when I did 'Mamma Mia!' and everybody was calling each other 'Governor' and 'Sir'... and then, looking at me, 'Well... good morning!'”

“If you have bad hair and you bite your nails, nobody expects that you can't direct plays.”

“One is always attracted to pieces of theatre with great roles for women.”

“If you're an actor, you have to look spiffing. But as the director, you don't need to look so glamorous.”

“The power of a close-up can be extraordinary, but you have to have actors who are able to reveal themselves.”

“If you believe that how you do your work is as influential as the work you do, then a theatre rehearsal, which is a microcosm of the world, is the perfect place to model social change because if it doesn't work this time, you can try again on the next production.”

“Frankly, I find it very odd that, in a population that's more than 50 per cent of women, that Hollywood isn't producing more movies to cater to that audience. The demographic is being grossly underserved, in my opinion.”

“When I began to direct, I discovered that I was much more comfortable than I was acting.”

“Opera is too obsessed with buildings.”

“Directing is quite a nuts-and-bolts thing. It's a mixture of creating an atmosphere in which actors can feel safe enough to be dangerous.”

“In a way, 'Mamma Mia!' was such a left-field thing for me.”

“Movie-making is an extreme sport on many levels. It requires stamina such as I had never imagined.”

“Shakespeare was writing about his time, and it was a time when women were beginning to demand a voice, demand a say in their lives for one reason or another, mainly to do with the economics of the time.”

“As a woman, I think Margaret Thatcher felt she had to be ten times more prepared than the men.”

“It's the job of the artist to take something that everybody thinks they know about, they've made a decision about, they will be immovable on, and to shine a light on it.”

“Do as much theatre as you can while you're at school.”