"“I use all sorts of sources — but I always go back to the script. And then I just let the thing live in my body a bit…"

"I don't like going for more than a year without doing theatre. I don't mind falling flat on my face so long as I feel…"

"But I'm pretty secure about who I am. Anything that's truthful I'm not ashamed of."

"When I do things that aren't very good, I'm worse as an actor. I don't know what I pick up - but it's something not v…"

"I'd hate to lose the character actress part of me, because, by God, the parts are much more interesting. As a black a…"

"I'm drawn to stories about ordinary people who get tangled up in an extraordinary event or idea or emotion. I'm not s…"

"Without hammering you over the head with it, the movie gets you to ask questions. That's what good movies do."

"I'm just going where the stories are. I'll quite happily work in a tiny theater in the middle of nowhere if it's the …"

"[on being awarded the OBE in June 2010] The cherry on the cake and way beyond anything I would have imagined for myself."

"Being a character actor, I can go on until I'm 70 or 80; I'm not bound to the way I look."