I inherited my weight problem from my mum. She was always on diets. If there was a box of chocolates in the house, she'd eat half a chocolate, then put the other half back. She loved me, but she did encourage me to diet in my teens.
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?
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'm an ambassador for Medical Detection dogs.
I get invited to a lot more glamorous parties since I've been in 'Downton Abbey,' which has made me much more fashion conscious.
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.'
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 sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I'd got 'Downton Abbey' when I was 22.
I've been to the White House and had Hilary Clinton push through the crowd to come and meet me. Chelsea Clinton, too.
I want to have a scene with Maggie Smith.
The first role I played was Madame Ranevsky in 'The Cherry Orchard.'
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.
People have preconceptions about women of a certain age.
'Sweeney Todd' is my favorite Sondheim musical.
