I wish I could play the piano. I started when I was four and finished when I was five. I got bored. I couldn't tell my left hand from my right back then!
At the drop of a hat, people will say there are no roles for women after 40. It's there with a bunch of other rules I'm not interested in.
I did an O-level in domestic science when I was at school, but on the day of the practical exam, it was a cookery nightmare.
I met Bette Midler, who I absolutely love.
Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity I've met as a result of 'Downton Abbey.'
I never imagined I'd go into acting, but I always loved drama, and when I was 16, I discovered the Library Theatre up the road. So I plucked up courage and asked if I could watch rehearsals. It was like Heaven.
I guess that is my favorite thing - to make people laugh and also to maybe engage them emotionally and touch them somehow in telling the story.
I've not cooked Christmas dinner since 1982.
I always admire people who have passion.
I took a cookery course. On the examination, I had to cook a cheese omelet with peas and an egg custard. With the egg custard, which was supposed to be a dessert, I forget to put the sugar in, so that's more of a quiche, isn't it?
The first meal my husband ever made me was a chicken curry. I have never tasted anything so delicious in my life.
For years, I've felt that there's an inner cook in me just waiting to be unleashed. But I have to confess I'm having an awful lot of trouble finding her in real life.
I don't have any rules when it comes to clothes. I'll wear anything if it fits and looks good.
I'm very lucky to have a husband who cooks, for a start. It's a good partnership. I met him through a friend, and we just hit it off.
When I heard I had gotten 'Downton Abbey,' I remember I was standing on a freezing cold street in Manchester where we were shooting the Manchester part of 'West is West.'
I can do basics, but I'm not a proper cook. I can do a roast. I can stick a chicken in the oven with vegetables.
I mean, I've done musicals, but it's not my best thing.
People have preconceptions about women of a certain age.
I have been invited to do something called 'Celebrity MasterChef' in England, which, of course, I can't do. It's complete nonsense. You have to be a decent cook to begin with. I'd be the joke one.
One of the Sunday newspapers asked me to make my favorite dish, and they photographed me holding it in the kitchen. It was roasted salmon with roasted vegetables. That's not cooking; that's putting things in a pan. It looked quite nice, but I'm not saying it was good.
