Ruth Jones
I knew I wanted to write about female friendship. I've got a few friends I've known since we were teenagers, who have spanned the decades, and I do find that a fascinating thing, that friendship can last that length of time.Collection: Friendship
I did get a really weird fan letter from a bloke in prison. I think it was when I was doing 'Fat Friends.' He said he'd be happy to do an exercise routine for me, to go through a fitness regime for me. I didn't take him up on the offer... dunno why?!Collection: Fitness
I wanted to write a book about female friendship, because it's a constant that goes right through to the end of our days. Over time, romantic love changes and often becomes something different, but friendship stays pretty much the same.Collection: Friendship
There were times when the first thing we'd talk about in the morning was 'Stella,' and the last thing we'd talk about at night was 'Stella.'Collection: Morning
I've always been a bit of a drama queen. I was into make-believe and dressing up.
I love looking at old photographs. I don't know if it's something that gets more appealing as one gets older and you're trying to get a sense of your place in the world and the little area that your life has taken up.
Lavatorial humour is just not my cup of tea. But, having said that, I'm really of the mind that comedy is so subjective and whatever makes you laugh makes you laugh. If it doesn't make you laugh, don't watch it.
Surely there's a difference between cocky and lively and entertaining.
I'm blessed by having very long-term, solid friendships, and they're such joyous things.
I love talking about 'Stella.'
I'd like to visit the Faroe Islands and at some point take a boat trip along the Caledonian Canal in Scotland.
I will never, ever turn down a foot massage.
I think community and connection with people around us - and feeling that we belong - is really valuable.
I think perhaps I'm a bit of an idealist.
Certainly in 'Stella' there weren't really any baddies. And if there were, they were quite ineffectual baddies. And the same is true of 'Gavin & Stacey.' I like people to be redeemed.
I get so upset about news stories and the cruelty in the world. I can't process it. And I just think there's enough of it out there. It doesn't need me to add to it. Nobody needs Ruth Jones's take on nasty.
I love fallible characters.
I like really, properly detailed, described characters.
In some ways, I was confident as a teenager - I didn't mind standing on stage in front of loads of people - but innately, I didn't believe in myself. I would always put myself down before anyone else could.
Writing a novel is solitary, but I don't mind that.
Since I turned 40, I've become less self-doubting, but it still happens.
Of course I've been in love and I married the man that I love. It was love at first voice because I spoke to him on the phone before I met him. I did fall in love with his voice.
I am nervous about how my debut novel will be received, because there's always that feeling that somebody might say something negative. I say I won't read the reviews, but I probably will. But just because somebody says something negative, I don't have to believe it.
When I re-read my diaries, it's the self-doubt that seems to be prevalent.
I feel really lucky, I love doing my job.
I have decided to stop dieting because it doesn't work for me and I am annoyed with myself for ever trying. I have decided to enjoy the body I have. I tell myself how lucky I am to have a body that functions so well.
I love 'Gogglebox,' that show really makes me laugh.
I think people are naturally funny.
With TV-writing, you write scenes and those scenes pretty much stay as they are when you come to filming them. Sometimes you might change things on the day because of the location or the actors' availability issues.
I always love stories that do a big time leap where the past informs the present, where you find out what became of some characters years later.
It's just wonderful to be able to write about what my characters are thinking.
Whenever someone asks for my autograph, I still think, 'Do you really want it?'
I've turned up to auditions and seen faces that I recognise and I think I know them. Then I realise I know them because they are on the telly.
I just go broad Welsh when I'm nervous.
When I was five, my uncle bought us a tape recorder and my dad tried to record us kids talking and singing, stuff like that. There's really quite a lot of me in a really Welsh accent going, 'Can I tell a joke? Can I sing a song?' - really annoying and brattish.
Gavin and Stacey' really seems to have been taken into people's hearts and we're really thrilled about it.
I got a part in the film 'Emma' in which Gwyneth was playing the lead. She was going out with Brad Pitt at the time. I asked her if, with a name like Gwyneth, she had any Welsh connections. She wasn't terribly friendly.
I'd never judge anyone who did Botox, it's a personal thing. But I wouldn't do it.
None of us are going to get younger, there's no point in trying to chase that dream because it won't happen.
I have facials and I love spas, but that's more about the pampering.
Of course I always immediately apologise when I realise I'm in the wrong.
I'm trying to learn to ask myself: 'Before you dive in are you sure you are right?' It's always safe to assume I'm wrong.
I used to think I could only run if I was a certain weight. It was a revelation when I accepted that thinking like that was daft. I told myself if I enjoyed it, just enjoy it!
Marks & Spencer's in Cardiff is a really good place to get recognised.
You have a different, much more intimate relationship with the characters in a novel than when writing a screenplay. You're able to get inside their heads in a different way. You can understand their motivations more.
I've obviously witnessed the world of TV production, and I'm just a bit fascinated by people being a bit awful.
I can understand why people want to know who 'the real Ruth Jones' is. That's human nature. But do you ever get that from an interview?
I do my job because I love it. And a necessary part of the job is that you talk about the show you've done.
Without 'Gavin & Stacey,' 'Stella' wouldn't exist.
I like to observe people, and I find people pretty fascinating. So I think character is my strength.