Quotes from Lesley Sharp

I realized a few years ago that as an actress I'd signed myself up to a life of disempowerment. I'm always waiting for permission to do what I want to do.

When I was in Stephen Poliakoff's 'Playing With Trains,' someone wrote that I was 'moon-faced'. That taught me not to read my reviews.

I don't have the looks of angel, I don't have the body of a goddess, I'm kind of invisible.

Playgrounds are like microcosms of the world, aren't they? So you look around and you go, 'This is the world, is it? It doesn't work for me. I'm not the beautiful one, I'm not the popular one, I'm not the funny one. There are all these types and I'm not any of them.' And when you're not any of them, you're sort of invisible.

I didn't want to be invisible. I don't know what I wanted to be, but it wasn't invisible.

I had a fantastic father, Jack Sharp, and I will always carry him in my heart as my father.

I know Toby Jones very well, we've done yoga together in the past and get on very well. He's a fantastic actor, but also extremely good company, very witty, and smart.

I do bikram yoga as often as I can - and if I can't, I'll go for a run.

I just think that, you know, what young actors actors and actresses have to factor into their work is all of the social media and the pressures that come from social media and the scrutiny that they're under and so nothing goes under the radar.

I think what maybe starts out when you're younger as being something about slightly showing off or being given applause because people think that you're good at something, as you get older it becomes less about that and it becomes more about the fascination of why people do the things that they do.

Everyone has a certain hand dealt to them and you just have to work out whether you can keep going. The thing is, I don't know what I would do if I didn't act.

That's the thing about 'Three Girls' I found most upsetting. Young women feel their only options are to hook up with guys who've got vodka and cigarettes because they can't actually imagine a future that's any different. That's terrible.

It's a very tricky situation to be in when you're actually friends with someone but they're also your boss.

Working with Mike Leigh is a process of distillation.

Because I think your twenties are really difficult, aren't they?

Now I belong to this fantastic group called The London Writers Salon, which runs Monday to Friday with sessions in London, New York and L.A. and you can log in to them all and basically write in the company of 300 other people, with nobody chatting.

Sometimes when I hear people talking about their families, or their relationships with their mothers and fathers, I hear it but it's not something I totally understand.

I don't think anyone's interested particularly in watching stuff that's just about two-dimensional characters anymore.

European shows are unafraid of investigating philosophical questions on behalf of their characters or elevating imagery or letting moments play out.

The really hard thing for both men and women is getting older: it becomes increasingly difficult to live a life based on uncertainty, disempowerment is written into the job description.

Going on stage is always a process that causes anxiety and nervousness.

I suppose I'm of the school of never explain, never complain.

You're immediately in a world of noir when you're watching shows like 'The Bridge' or 'The Killing.'

I didn't want to be classified as a northern actress.