My family moved out of London's East End to a tiny village. The school I went to was supposed to be mixed gender, but there were hardly any boys born that year. So, yes, joining a youth theatre was a fun way to meet the opposite sex!

I get quite fearful about interviews, so I sought advice from other actors.

I love being the first person to play a part. I really get a big thrill out of it.

My two great fears are either not working or working on something that means you can't do something else you really want.

My husband says I'm a grumpy lioness.

'Better do it than wish it done,' is a phrase ingrained in my mind.

I would like to think that there are more women in positions of power, to actually get these projects off the ground that are more balanced, where the story is about men and women.

I have to admit to the occasional need for 'Come Dine with Me.' I am the most atrocious cook, and that's probably why I find it so entertaining. It looks exotic to me.

It was really unusual that the crews on 'Spooks' were a real mix of men and women, and you'd struggle to see many women with parts that weren't cliched back in the late '90s.

'Spooks' was very much of its time and rather unique, so I was more than happy to be in that as a long-runner - because I think we won't have that sort of show again. I think it was really, really unusual.

I was on a tour of a Restoration comedy in 1996, and in Moscow we stayed at the Metropole hotel, off Red Square. The food there was opulent, but in the Maly theatre canteen, there were just a few pieces of rye bread, peanuts, and gherkins. I stood in the queue and burst into tears.

I'd really like to play Lady Macbeth.

I've always had a resting expression that either makes me look deep in thought or as though I'm about to fight you. I've lost count of the number of directors asking me what the problem is when all I'm doing is sitting still and being.

When I look back at the Nineties, I realise there wasn't very much TV I wanted to do.

The generation before me certainly told me that there would come a point when there were fewer parts, telling me to make hay while the sun shone. There was a time in my late thirties when I thought that it was something I had to get myself ready for, that things were going to slow down as I hit 40.

I am very good at keeping secrets, except when I am drunk, when I will tell you absolutely anything.

The people I've met who are divorce lawyers, there's a sense of them having to look reassuringly expensive.

At home, people very rarely recognise me.

I don't have a preferred medium of work, but like all actors, I do like to move from one to the other if possible.

My two girlfriends from university, Sue Perkins and Sarah Phelps, are both in the business - and are both stupidly busy. We talk on the phone a lot and try to get out to dinner together, but our preferred venue is one of our kitchens with a lot of tea.

I'm married to a vegetarian, so if ever we go out to dinner, I go for kidneys.

'The Split' is actually really hopeful - although it's left me reeling slightly, thinking about what we do to each other in the name of love, within the contract of marriage.

I completely respect the job our police do.

I don't really have a treasured possession, but I do love my family's proper old photo album. We all have hundreds of photos on our phones now, but you can't beat the old albums stuffed with black-and-white wedding photographs and 1970s Polaroids.