Before I lived in America, my husband and I did a Californian road trip. We took a month, starting off in L.A. I love the landscapes of California: one moment you're in the desert, the next you're up in the Napa Valley or by the water in Big Bear.
I always felt slightly grubbier than most American people. I was never quite as groomed as everyone else, never quite as fit as anyone else. I didn't have my protein shake and my vitamins.
When I hear the bagpipes, it makes the hairs on my neck stand on end. It always makes me weep.
Everything has happened so fast for me that I sometimes can't take it all in. I'm a huge 'Friends' fan, and meeting Matthew Perry in L.A., where he was as keen to talk to me about 'Extras' as I was to him about 'Friends,' was amazing.
As a child, I always chose a false nose and some face paint and a wig for my birthday.
I don't read tabloids. I just don't go there.
I take my hat off to mums who have lots of kids. Anyone that says being a mum isn't a full-time job has obviously never had any.
L.A. hasn't changed me that much - I've not forgotten where I'm from, you know. And I need to find a haggis, but no-one seems to sell them over here.
The only time I've played a real baddy was when I was Regan in 'King Lear.'
People are always asking me if I work out, but to be honest, I'm doing very little at the moment. The only time I really go to the gym is if I'm staying in a hotel.
I wanted to live where I could pop to the bar that Humphrey Bogart took Lauren Bacall to, or the little restaurant where Charlie Chaplin had a booth.
Two days before I got the audition for 'Extras,' I was offered a theatre role, and I asked my husband, Terry, whether I should take it or not. He said, 'No, wait and see what else comes in.' Lo and behold, along came 'Extras.' Now that was lucky!
I was Lady Gaga way before her time. I had a wee kettle for a handbag. Didn't everyone, at some point? One of the teachers used to call me Dame Flora Robson because I had this big, long Victorian skirt. And I wore a Peruvian hat. It was the 1980s - people were wearing lots of lace.
To be honest, I probably wouldn't have gone to Hollywood if I hadn't been offered 'Ugly Betty' because I was a wee bit feart. But you have to make yourself frightened. That's what keeps you alive.
Americans are so direct. They'd ask me, 'What's your five-year plan? Do you have a five-year plan?' I don't know what I'm having for my tea tonight let alone a five-year plan.
I always felt slightly grubbier than most American people.
I always knew I wanted to be an actor, certainly from the age of eight or nine. I think when you know what you want to do, you're very lucky because you've got a focus.
My husband is always telling me: 'We're on holiday - we don't need to have an itinerary!' But I always want to see as much as I can. Sometimes, I come back from holiday needing a holiday.
We have a house in Umbria that we bought just before we went to America. That meant we couldn't go there as often as we thought, but now we're back, we're going to start using it more. I love the light, the countryside, the language and the fact that children are accepted everywhere. The Italians get passionate about everything, too.
I think because I did become a well-known face in my thirties and not in my twenties, I was pretty settled in my boots and I knew who I was. And I think there's a sort of Scottish thing, too, where you don't take yourself too seriously, and you don't get carried away with your own sense of self-importance.
