Janet McTeer
I was very nervous about the accent. I was very nervous about being an American.
All theater is unpredictable. That's the definition of theater.
It's hard to learn an American accent. Some of the Rs at the ends of words are incredibly hard.
I did 'Tumbleweeds' for fun. I did it because I loved it and I hardly even got paid.
The older you get, the better you get, because you've seen more. You don't necessarily have to go through a lot, but you have to witness it in order to recreate it.
People will still love and hurt and yearn.
I have very girly hands and I use them a lot when I talk in a way that I think is very feminine.
I've always thought if you watch the performance and you don't know about the person, then you only see the performance.
I just want people to focus on the performance.
When children arrive, or when some crisis occurs, couples don't have the resources to deal with it because they've been so busy getting on with their lives. They haven't learned how to sit down and discuss things.
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.
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.
I do mostly British projects, and for family reasons and life reasons Britain's my home, where I have a lovely garden.
New Yorkers are either the nicest or the rudest.
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 have become a marketing tool and I feel very uncomfortable with that. There's no space for me to express myself.
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.
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.
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.
My mother and father are still together after forty something years. I lived in one place till I was 6. I lived in another place from when I was 6 till I was 17.
People are calling a lot, sending scripts my way. Yes, it's wonderful because, let's face it, there aren't many wonderful scripts for women over the age of 10.
There are some roles that are a no-brainer. You just have a sure, instinctive 'Yes!'
I have always been drawn to strong and interesting women, people who have navigated that world before you and maintained their integrity and sense of self.
I love gadgets.
'The King and I' - one of the first films I ever saw.
When you create a character, you create it for yourself - you do whatever you want. It's your job to explore it in as many different avenues as you can in order to make it a fully wounded character.
When you're an actor, you get your ideas from everywhere - even from someone on the street. We're total thieves!
I feel strongly for the younger actresses when a lot of their career is based on how they look. That must be hard when your looks begin to go and you haven't built up the wealth of character parts to get into something else.
When you are old enough to... play powerful parts, who cares if you are 45, 55 or 65?
I'd rather lose large than win slightly. I think life is an oil painting, not a watercolor.
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 was incredibly self-conscious about the way I looked.
In my heart of hearts, I love theatre. It's the joy and terror of putting a play on, the creativity of it. It is infinitely harder than film and television and more tiring. Your performance is heightened in the way it isn't with film.
I find strong roles really interesting. Usually, that means the character is also clever.
I've been very fortunate and never not worked.
I was always a character actress.
I love the way we do theatre in London: I love the fact that everybody is trained.
You have to capitalise on any success you have and keep doing what you do as well as you can. But how do you define success? In my book, it's to be playing those parts you saw your idols - Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave - playing when they were the age you are now.
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.
I suppose that there might have been leading men who were put off from casting me as the ingenue because I was taller than they were, but I've no idea that this ever happened. When I did 'Much Ado About Nothing' opposite Mark Rylance in the West End, we used the difference in our heights as part of their relationship.
I'd love to play Hamlet.
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.
British independent television is exactly the same as independent cinema. Very low budget, interesting, cutting edge stuff.
I think you have to challenge yourself constantly. Otherwise, it's boring.
When youre a young English person who wants to be an actress and you have dreams, you dream of being Vanessa Redgrave or Judi Dench.Collection: Dream
I would often go on as myself, when I wasn't working. And the first time I went on as myself, two people came up and asked me what I was doing and who I was.Collection: Two
You can't keep things secret in a film anymore. Once you realize the secret's out, you might as well go with it and not pretend that it's not there.Collection: Secret
If you play men, in a way it's easier. You can have a voicebox, you can have false hair, mustaches, wigs, you can have all kinds of stuff. But when you're playing women playing men, you only really have yourself to work with, plus tiny little extras.Collection: Men