Two of my dramas, 'Unforgotten' and 'River,' were airing at the same time, and Dad had read about my 'success' in a newspaper - he thought it was brilliant. I was thinking, 'Does this mean I'm going to be put in a box for a bit now?'
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.
Cornwall is my favourite place - I wish I could earn a living there.
Once you've sat in a room annoying Derek Jacobi while he's trying to do his crossword, you're prepped for working with the greats.
I come from a family of scrap metal dealers, so becoming an actor seemed like a ridiculous thing to do, but I'd found the thing that gave me a kick, and I quickly became obsessed with it.
Once I was asked to do celebrity rowing, where they taught people who had been to Oxford or Cambridge to row against each other. That sounded like too much hard work: really early mornings and having to be quite fit, which I'm not.
There aren't many shows that encompass roles for a seven-year-old to someone in their 50s.
I'm a proper Essex girl because my family was part of that great exodus from the East End.
I've got a feisty face.
I wish someone had got hold of me and said, 'You know, children are really good fun. You will have a fantastic time, and you will still work.'
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.
We lived in so many flats, and the more people you could get, the cheaper the flat was. Someone was always sleeping in the living room, and you're always slightly hiding them when the landlord came round.
Before I had my son, I became obsessed by this painting I'd seen in an art gallery. It was a lot of money, but I felt such a rush of adrenaline when I wrote the cheque to buy it. I thought I was going to gaze lovingly at it forever, but after just two weeks, I realised I didn't really like it any more.
I am not a morning person.
'Unforgotten' was a bit of a no-brainer. I'm a big fan of crime dramas, but often the 'investigation' part goes much too smoothly - and you don't get that with this.
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.
'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.
