Honeysuckle Weeks
I'm looking forward to sproglets but, as I'm the main breadwinner, I feel I ought to capitalise on my career for a bit longer. Mother keeps telling me I should go and freeze some eggs. Not terribly romantic, is it?Collection: Romantic
Politics is not a game for naive thinkers. You may go in as an idealist, but you certainly won't come out as one.Collection: Politics
'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.Collection: War
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.Collection: Sad
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.Collection: Humor
Of course, it's wonderful to film any period piece - but especially 'Foyle's War' because the art direction is so imaginative and yet at the same time so real. You can open a drawer on set, and even though the camera never sees what's inside, it'll be filled with genuine 1940s documents.
I think to be a good actor you need either a good experience of life or education, or both.
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 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 used to run ten miles every other day and eat very little. I was living in London on my own for the first time and no one was checking on me. I wasn't anorexic but lost three stone. I weighed around seven. It lasted six months until I ran out of willpower.
Size zero doesn't make you happy, and I'm not sure I have the discipline for Hollywood. I'm too much of a fan of chocolate and crisps.
From the very start, if there was a spotlight, I would step into it. My parents wondered what to do with this insufferable show-off. They chose acting for me, and I'm very grateful I can still make a living from it.
'In many ways, I was born a hundred years too late. I often feel out of kilter with the modern world.
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.
It's really good to have so distinctive a name as an actress. No one ever forgets it. My sister and brother are called Perdita and Rollo. Actually, my family calls me 'Hollyhocks.'
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.
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.
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 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.
My father was a tyrant about reading, and that put me off books when I was little.
My health is important to me. I run with my dog, twice or three times a week.
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.
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.
I do cook a lot for myself. I tend to cook from scratch, a lot of stews and things, lots of beans, because beans have got lots of protein in them but not fat. I am partial to a bit of cheese - I try to limit myself in my cheese intake, but I do enjoy a good smelly cheese. Stinking Bishop is a good one.
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.
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.
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.
I think Emily Blunt is definitely our finest young female English export. She has an uncanny grace.
Its really good to have so distinctive a name as an actress. No one ever forgets it. My sister and brother are called Perdita and Rollo. Actually, my family calls me Hollyhocks.Collection: Brother
Foyles 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.Collection: Country
Size zero doesn't make you happy and I'm not sure I have the discipline for Hollywood. I'm too much of a fan of chocolate and crisps.Collection: Zero
My parents wondered what to do with this insufferable show-off. They chose acting for me and I'm very grateful I can still make a living from it.Collection: Grateful