Eileen Atkins

My parents felt so uncomfortable coming to the kind of theater I was in; they had nothing to say about it.

I imagine I'll retire mid-performance. I'll say, 'Sorry, everyone, I can't do this anymore. I must have suddenly aged.' Then I'll walk off. Yes, I'm sure that's how.

When I think of all the Hamlets I've seen, there's been a load of different styles, some marvellous. You like the Hamlet you saw when you were the right age to think you could be Hamlet.

The idea of an actor is that you should be able to play anything.

There seem to be two sorts of actors. Some people play themselves marvellously, and others, like me, rather like to become someone else.

I hate tight, tight stuff showing every line. I want to be sick when people are in Lycra.

Film was something I didn't really think about when I was young, because if you looked like me, you weren't a film star.

One of the things I love about Helena Bonham Carter is that she is ravishing, but she does as much as she can to play it down and look funny. She doesn't let her looks get in the way. I hugely respect that.

My grammar school caught on to the fact that the reason I was falling asleep in class was that I was doing working men's clubs till 10 or 11 at nights. My mother was told I shouldn't do it anymore. Of course, I was bringing in money to the family, so nobody liked hearing that.

I love dresses that just skim the body, that suggest what's underneath rather than display it.

Losing friends is the worst thing about getting older.

My very first memory of being alive is being tossed in the air by my father and laughing and knowing, really knowing, that his was absolute joy.