Helen Baxendale
I don't know if there are many misconceptions. One is that my birthday is on Valentine's Day. It's on 7 June.Collection: Birthday
Valentine's Day isn't always as much fun as many of us would like.Collection: Valentines
When you're young you don't appreciate your youth and marvel in it like you should, you find endless flaws instead.
Of course you come back after a long day and are heavy hearted when all of your scenes are unremittingly upsetting or angry, but I don't take it home with me.
I had a little glimpse of what fame holds, and I decided it held a load of nothing.
I never saw myself as proper grown up.
I'd make all schoolchildren take ballet lessons every morning. And I'd ban advertising aimed at children.
Childhood is pretty fantastic but every age has its moments of beauty.
'Friends' was great fun, but I was just there so they could make some funny jokes about England.
Fame just didn't fit in with my life.
There is this perception that TV is glamorous and it is the pinnacle of your existence - I don't think it is.
In career terms it would have been preferable for me to have done 'Friends,' because it lifts you and just, mmmm, gives you some kind of cachet.
I don't know what drippy means, but it's not very nice. To be drippy. I don't feel like I drip much at all.
I'm not steely ambitious.
I'm not a natural comedian.
'Beyond The Pole's Facebook page has been incredibly instrumental in introducing us to new people and to making connections with journalists, cinemas everything.
It will be very exciting to watch how the industry responds to filmmakers getting closer and closer to their audiences - and they must, as for too long it has been quite impossible for filmmakers to actually get anywhere near to revenues arising from their work. Too many middlemen!
Seriously though, most films worth their salt will have something to say about the world we live in. Even 'Avatar' claimed that!
Those people in 'Friends' could not go out without being hounded, shouted at or followed. Who wants that? I don't want that.
I never felt sorry for the people in 'Friends' though. They had enormous wealth and they were very funny, creative people who gave a lot of people happiness.
I wanted to have children and I wanted to be with the person I was in love with.
Today's culture is based on selling us a lifestyle that does not exist. It is selling us values that are worth nothing. It is plain wrong.
I obviously wasn't cool enough as a teenager.
I love the idea of seeing a character - I mean, there's nothing like seeing a character and having the huge detail and roundness that a character in a book can give you. It's so much more full than a character in a script can give you, isn't it?
There are so many detective shows on television, aren't there? There's a real glut of grisly and violent ones, that aren't my cup of tea.
Energy is infectious.
I suit high passions, and I can play women who have undercurrents going on.
I look stern because I've got high cheekbones and a pointy nose, and a lot of my characters have been quite stubborn.
If you're going to be pigeon-holed as anything as a woman, it's good to be pigeon-holed as someone with an acid tongue who gets things done.
People latch on to characters who are rude or naughty or bad. Look at JR in 'Dallas' or Angie in 'EastEnders.' They're the best parts, the parts people want to be like.
I feel I know Cape Town very well now having been there twice and for six weeks at a time.
People expect because it is called 'Friends' that everyone was great friends, but they were real professionals.
I don't have any regrets whatsoever because it has been my life. I've been very privileged, I'm lucky and I'm still alive.
I've pursued every avenue open to me ever, so I don't really understand the idea that I walked away from opportunities.
We've still got a cathode ray TV with a big back. An ancient, massive thing. All our teenagers' friends come round and say the TV's really cool. The picture is so much better than HD TVs - everything looks like film. It's not digital, and we still haven't got Netflix. It's too confusing.
When I was growing up, we used to be like the Royle family, sitting around watching lots of TV and commenting on it. It was our focal point.
I have vivid memories of my dad watching 'Not the Nine o'Clock News.' I didn't really get it but I thought it was hilarious because he was laughing.
It's surprisingly easy to get teenagers to watch subtitles.
I think that happens every five years or so when 'Friends' moves to a different channel. I think basically everybody has seen it now. It's so good, and timeless. Actually I don't know if it's timeless, I haven't seen it for years.
I used to try to carry the weight of my character around with me, but I just can't do that now, it's too hard.
I have to enjoy life - it is a privilege to be an actor and I love what I do, so I will act those moments and then do my best to switch off - life is too short.
I don't like conflict.
People know me but can't quite place me - they squint at me like I might be their old school teacher or a woman they've seen down the local pub.
'Friends' and 'Cold Feet' seem like a lifetime ago. That whole period is like a weird, bizarre blip or a surreal dream.
'Cuckoo' really is one of the best shows I've ever been in. I'm genuinely excited and proud to be a part of it.
Loads of people call me Bax. In my family I'm often called Hel, which isn't as nice.
If I'm on a beach I'm the one to find the ammonite, or in a field I'll find the four-leaf clover.
Heights are a problem for me. I'm not a brave flier and I'd never jump out of a plane or do a bungee jump.
I've never done a zip wire. I'm a scaredy-cat.
When you're given the chance, you can't really not go to the Caribbean, can you?