My mother was born on a tiny farm in County Mayo. She was meant to stay at home and look after the farm while her brother and sister got an education. However, she came to England on a visit and never went back.
My grandmother lived with us for a short time while I was a child. Old people tend to be slightly more eccentric - they can behave the way they want.
I'm more selective now I've got a family. I don't want to work all the time. My daughter's 12; I don't want to miss out on her life. Soon she'll be a teenager; she won't want me around.
It seems that when you get to a certain age you almost give yourself permission to misbehave and say what you think. People allow it, with very old people.
I'll tell you how it happened. The phone rang. Paul, my agent, goes, 'Would you like to play Meryl Streep's?' I said, 'Yeeees! I'll do it, whatever it is.' He said, 'It's Mamma Mia!.' I said, 'Oh no, which character? The fat friend?
I'm massively talented, and very, very beautiful in person; the public don't really realise that.
