Sarah Parish

The best job was when I was at drama school and I cleaned flats in the Barbican. I loved it. They were spotless anyway, so you'd just watch the telly and flick a duster around.

I hope I'm very similar to my mum because she is a fantastic mother. She was driven as well as being incredibly protective and caring, and I think that is important.

I'm really tall, and I used slouch and think it was really uncool to stand up straight - now I wish I hadn't been quite so dumb!

Plastic surgery can't make you younger or more beautiful, because beauty is in your eyes, isn't it? It's in your soul; you can't strap it on.

I love acting, but don't necessarily enjoy other aspects of the business. For me, going to celebrity parties is like work.

Marriage is hard, and it can be tough when you're both actors.

I've had to deal with my tragedies, and how you cope with them is what life's all about. You can choose to let them consume you or choose not to.

I don't think anyone's life is totally wonderful, however it looks from outside.

Living with fear stops us taking risks, and if you don't go out on the branch, you're never going to get the best fruit.

I'm a big-boned, athletic-looking woman, and I have to make the best of what I've got. I like to stay fit and healthy, but I could probably give myself a break sometimes.

I'd love to look like my mum when I am her age. She taught ballet for years, and my attitude to exercise and fitness has definitely been influenced by her. She's 84 now, and I've watched how well she has aged, and a lot of that is to do with her fantastic posture.

My earliest memory is of sitting at Mum's dance school, watching her teach a ballet class.