Quotes from Sarah Lancashire

I think all writers have a style, a particular voice and rhythm that you have to find.

It was easier to act, in a way, than to be myself. Somehow I just felt I was in the right place.

Two of the best roles I've ever had have happened in my late 40s.

You start out with scripts pre-written, with no specific actor in mind, so you've got to build a character on top of that foundation. It's not just lifting words off the page, it's constructing a history around them as well.

I can bake but I don't do a lot of baking, mainly because the side effect is not very good for you.

Children are part of the natural pattern of life. For centuries people have been having children and going to work. You get on with it, that's what life's about.

Love is very complicated and it's never black and white, as I'm sure we all know in our lives.

I have never known what it feels like to wake up in the morning full of the joys of spring, and wander through the day feeling capable of coping.

When you receive a script and it leaps out at you and it's breathing with its own heartbeat - I suppose when you read something like that it's not a choice of whether you do it or don't. It feels like it chooses you, so you just do it.

I'm not planning on being a health role model.

I don't like comparing projects. I find it too difficult because I can't objectively look at a piece when I'm so subjectively involved it.

I love swing, jazz, blues, standards. I love the American songbook, Gershwin, Berlin. It's all that. So I'm born in the wrong era and I just don't fit into the 21st century at all.

I got married only because I was pregnant. Simple as that. I am a very traditional girl and was horrified at the thought of having a child out of wedlock. I didn't want a child of mine to be different or have fingers pointed at.

It's wonderful when you happen across it as an actor, finding a young actor that is literally just starting out and you understand that to them the craft is the most important aspect of the job.

Being in the public eye makes you frightened to talk openly about things - which is precisely why you should. You can really make a difference and open up subjects that are taboo.

'Tango' is very much an ensemble piece and I was devastated when I read the script.

Am I attracted to people who want to give other people a voice? Yes I am, and that may be a 'common denominator with the characters that I play.

I am a tea connoisseur and my idea of absolute heaven is a tea shop.

When you pretend for a living and you have to pretend in your private life as well, it's very sad. Because it's intangible, depression is an issue that people don't like to talk about. It's like a huge, guilty secret.

If someone was walking round in a T-shirt with Sarah Lancashire on it, I'd find that very disturbing.

The roles do get fewer as you get older. That's the same for all professions, there's fewer roles for people later in life. I don't think it should be like that because as long as you are able to do your job then people should keep working with you. It shouldn't come down to age.

I suppose trying not to fancy Richard Gere - that's been quite hard!

It's not something I'm embarrassed about. Depression is an issue that tends to be brushed under the carpet. My hope is that if people with a public profile are prepared to talk about it, then it might prompt other people to talk about it too.

I think this country is terribly, horribly obsessed with age, and it really is just this country. If you're still living and breathing at 50, then count your blessings!