Quotes from Helen McCrory

I was lucky to learn early in life that you need money for food and shelter, but there's no ambition in having money in the bank for the sake of it!

To be honest, my husband and my children are my best friends.

I listen to Radio 4 all the time. I didn't go to university, so that's my further education.

People are not considerate of others. They tend not to consider themselves as all living together, but see themselves only as individuals.

You can be moved by a performance on set, but when you see it on screen, it does nothing. Yet there will be someone you simply didn't notice on set that on screen: bam!

People who are exceptionally intelligent are often lonely because there are few people as intelligent as them. I have two little children, and everyone says: 'I hope they're doing well in school. I hope they're bright.' And I think: 'Why would anyone want their children to be the brightest?' Academia is a lonely world.

I really love my food. My favourite thing is artichokes. I am not so much interested in desserts or chocolate, though. I also like to cook with my husband Damian.

What I find most interesting about acting is transforming myself.

I love London, and it's a privilege for my children to grow up here.

Childhood has definitely been invented, hasn't it? I think that's because people had children later, and we appreciate and cherish childhood a lot more.

If you think you are beautiful in a scene, you will come across as beautiful. I don't think looks are important; I think what's important is if someone is sexy.

Theatre is liberating because it only works if it's truthful - that's what it requires. That's not true of film: the camera does lie.

As I've got older, I feel more confident in my body, so wouldn't want to tamper with it.

I think I was brought up with an innate sense of responsibility because my dad was in the Foreign Office where you were in somebody else's country, and you were aware of your behaviour. And my mum worked for the NHS, so you were aware of your responsibility to your country.

If I were in politics, I'd make both left and right sit down and make good decisions about national health. It's a huge problem, and it is something we all should be part of.

If you're constantly frightened of being unhappy, how bloody exhausting must that be?

I think it's very important not to grow up with the unhealthy amount of attention that is sometimes put on people because they are 'actors'.

I spent my teenage years in Paris when my dad was stationed there, and I'd look at women in their forties and think, 'That's the age I want to be.'

Working in films, there are hundreds of odd moments.

So often when you meet child actors, they're weird - they're freaks. No, I mean it, they're really odd people.

The only time I ever spend alone is when I am working or when my husband is away filming. I put the kids to bed and have an hour and a half in the evening for myself.

You don't learn from good people - they've found what works for them and are completely original; you learn from the people who are bad. You think: 'Oh dear, I'm not going to do that.'

I was a real art freak when I was a teenager.

America is such a nation of suppressed emotion, and when you arrive in L.A., you can smell the fear. It's the most alien country I've ever been to.