My mother came to see me in a play when I was a student, and afterwards, I asked her what she thought. She said, 'Honest opinion? No.'
Of course I am aware that there is a level of sexism in any large institution, but I find, in television and film, most of the producers are women.
I never get writer's block, but I do have days where I crawl under the duvet.
I didn't take into account the critical tsunami that comes with having work going out. I've gone from being a complete narcissist, someone who googles my own name, to someone who has to work separately from that to avoid creative paralysis.
I think social media has reinvigorated people's enthusiasm to be active and to engage.
I think I'm always running away from somewhere, and to me, theatre's always felt like a good place to run away to.
One of the things I think I can do in my lifetime is stop to remind myself that - and keep affirming that - women can sell movies.
Really, feminism is just about equality, and that's all. It's just saying equal rights.
I understand this fear of the word 'feminism,' and I understand the fear of saying it because it becomes as divisive as 'sexism' has become. But I know a lot of male feminists.
I hope my pieces have an authenticity to them, but my job is to filter the world and tell a story, not to define and recreate exactly what's going on.
I can understand a family that's imploding. I have experience of that in my own life.
Good writing is often about trying to investigate something you feel is missing and trying to put it back.
I spent most of the Seventies living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and most of the Eighties living in Stoke-on-Trent.
Writing a film is like giving birth to a baby and then giving it up for adoption.
If you're dealing with a powerful leader, you're inevitably going to have a dialogue with her political past. It was always my intention to interrogate Thatcher's political life.
I know what it's like to be brought up by actors and writers.
I try to stay focused on the work and recognize that I've been very lucky. Maybe it's 'cause I grew up with actors, but I've seen that recognition comes and goes, so all there really is is your family and friends. You have to maintain those constants in your life. Maintain what's beyond your work.
I was never cool as a kid.
I think that, as a writer, while it's your job to construct stories, you have to navigate your way through them with your heart.
I think theater is very much my natural home. But the truth is that the older I've got, and the more I've written film and television, I find it incredibly hard to write theater.
I think film and television - particularly film - you are very isolated as a writer. If you're lucky, you have a good relationship with the director. Then you do make that development and come on set and be part of something. But ultimately, your work is kind of done by the time you come on set.
What's great about the way 'Shame''s been received is that I kept on thinking there's no way this film will be received well since I've had such a good time.
I'm so straight and boring, really. I have two kids and a very nice partner.
I can go to the BBC and say, 'OK, my next drama is for women, and it is diverse women.' I take that to America, however, and I have another set of conversations.
I get the 'Guardian' delivered every day and read it very quickly. I like it for both the TV and theatre reviews and because it's very accessible. At the weekend, I get the 'Observer' because I love the food supplement, Observer Food Monthly, and the style section. And I can't resist the News of the World.
