Quotes from Francesca Annis

Having children with someone is the real bond.

I was asked to be in Vogue but I said no. I didn't want to advertise make-up. I didn't want to be seen as a sex symbol.

I'm not bothered or sad about being on my own - after all, I've never had a husband.

I used to suffer from excessive pride. Well, I got over that one.

I don't need a piece of paper to suggest that I can commit myself.

Roman's wife Sharon Tate had been murdered by Charles Manson the year before, but Roman had been through so much leaving the Warsaw ghetto that he was very strong and private.

I do find acting cathartic.

I come from a very hospitable, close, Catholic, matriarchal family.

Truly charismatic people, in my experience, don't come along very often.

My parents were hugely supportive like that. I was always the best - it's so embarrassing, isn't it? I was always the best at everything.

I think people have surgery for psychological reasons more than because of their looks.

I'll dance to anything: Bob Marley or rap.

I think people should do whatever they want to do. That's the point. Why should you care what other people think or say? You're not living in their pocket.

Eat well and sleep well. That will feed your nervous system and your psyche. As you get older, you look how you feel.

However successful you are, there is no substitute for a close relationship. We all need them.

My mother was madly adventurous. My father was an actor - he worked with Gielgud - and my mother came from a very wealthy family. She definitely wasn't meant to marry an actor, but she eloped with him one lunch-time.

I was always going to be a dancer - I drifted into acting.

I'm trying to learn to smoke, which is rather weird when everyone is trying to stop. I'm not a smoker. But my character only smokes as an affectation.

Each decade, I've lived in that decade, so I could easily shed the '20s, the '30s, the '40s.

You can be revered for all sorts of qualities, but to be truly charismatic is rare. Elizabeth Taylor was, for me, one of those rarities.

Fame and stardom sat very easily on Elizabeth Taylor's shoulders.

My children were brought up with their grandparents, and I was brought up with my grandparents. I think the continuity of moving through life together gives people a certain pride and sense of security.

The biggest privilege I've had in my life is being able to make a choice. If you make a choice, it can't be a wrong choice because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I can feel the 60S looming. In my profession, I've just moved along with my age. By thinking in decades, rather than whether someone's 42 or 47, you can give yourself a whole 10 years to turn yourself around in.