I Was A Complete Tomboy. I Loved

I Have Been Acting For 32 Years Now And I Feel So Lucky To Be Able To Have Done Exactly What I Wanted To Do.

I Always Start From Scratch With A Character - They're Never Based On Anyone Else. You Get Ideas Of What People Look Like, And I'm A Great People Watcher. You Can Draw Inspiration From People.

I Was On Holiday Recently And I Came Home To Find That One Of The Papers Here Had 'bikini'd' Me On The Beach. I Was Wearing A Grossly Unflattering Costume And They Had Published Photographs Of Me Taken From Behind. I Looked Dreadful. I Went Into Our Local Newsagent And Bought Up Every Copy.

If I Want To Run Around A Field When I'm 70, I Would Like To Have That Option.

I'd Been Gearing Up To Working In Theatre Since Coming Out Of Drama School, But It Was An Exciting Time For Tv Drama - It Was The Birth Of Channel 4, And Brookside Was Very Cutting-edge At The Time.