Francesca Annis quotes:

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.

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

Thank God we're not like America. Everyone wants to look like they're 20. In Europe we admire grown-up women; I think men revere older women.

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.

The minute anyone's getting anxious I say, You must eat and you must sleep. They're the two vital elements for a healthy life.

Judi Dench and Ian McKellen taught me how to work hard and respect the theatre.

I consulted a Chinese herbalist and spent two weeks on an island off the coast of Zanzibar. I was away from any kind of contemporary technology.

When I was starting out, young actresses had the studio system to protect them. Now you have a host of sharks, from your agent to your publicist to your lawyer.

Exposure makes you famous, not just good work. Famous is being plastered everywhere.

I'm one of the great unemployed looking for the next job. I'm waiting for the right offer. Like anyone, I want something that turns me on inside.

In films people basically work for the camera, you know, and that's why actors can hate each other and not be speaking to each other and still look as if they're in love because really they're loving the camera loving them.

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.

It's not so much the dressing up, but I love the idea of moving and existing in a different time.

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

As you grow older, your whole life becomes very rich, multifaceted.

I've never been married and I've no more desire to be married now than I ever have. I hate bureaucracy and I am not religious.

Too often, older women are seen as victims, but I know lots of formidable women who have marvellous jobs as well as a full erotic life, and children and friends and family.

I have yet to see a drama that puts forward women who are successful and also have a family... they are nearly always seen as victims.

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

If people think I look good, it's the make-up.

The wonderful thing about acting is you move along with your decade. The older you get, the more interesting the parts you get to play and you bring more of your personal experience to the part.

Everything is about class in England, whether it's upper, lower or middle. Why should that be?

Having children with someone is the real bond.

After all my various relationships I find myself now home alone.

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

I do find acting cathartic.

You can love more than one person in your life, but things will be different. There'll be a different dynamic. Needs and desires change.

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 have always done exercise because I was a dancer, and it is probably good for you. I have done yoga consistently.

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.

There is not enough celebration of companionship. Relationships aren't just about eroticism and sexuality.

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

You have to be careful not to let your fear stop you doing things. It's very exciting to test yourself.

I'm often asked if I regret not going to Hollywood. I'm glad I didn't go, because if I had I wouldn't have my extended family, which is the fabric of my life. Only recently have I realised how special and unusual it is.

I go on giving interviews because I've been brought up to support the projects I'm involved in. When you've enjoyed working on a production, you want to do them a favour.

I've always kept fit but I've been doing gym and yoga and will be throwing my stilettoes away for a while!

I don't believe in expending energy on something you can't do anything about. If there was some easy way of fixing things, I'd probably do it.

From one till seven, when we moved to England, I spoke only Portuguese. But I can't speak a word of it now.

I am pretty self-indulgent.

In the theatre, once you've gone about eight rows back, everybody else is just listening to you. You're very small, and nobody can really see what you're doing.

In Europe, we admire grown-up women; I think men revere older women.

I couldn't imagine playing someone young now; it would be so boring

I have made a public statement about me and Ralph by being seen with him. I don't need to make any other. You can live the way you want.

Sometimes sushi is just superb, and other times there's nothing like a great big steak. It depends where your taste buds are at the time.

I don't buy the tabloids, but you're surrounded by it all and people tell you things they've read. I'd be sitting on a train looking over someone's shoulder and thinking: That's familiar... oh my God, it's me.

I am not going to share my private life with millions of people. I don't find a need to do that and nobody else close to me does either.

From 1 till 7, when we moved to England, I spoke only Portuguese.

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 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.

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

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

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.

I think you live a fuller life with someone else, you know, you're firing on all cylinders. It can be a nightmare at times, we all know that, but nevertheless in the end I think to have someone else's input on anything - a book, a meal, your children, life, a walk - is fantastic.

Everything has changed. An interview has become such a confrontational thing. It makes you very defensive.

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.

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

An interview has become such a confrontational thing. It makes you very defensive.

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

I don't think the media circus has ever been a shock to my life seeing as I was with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor when I was 17.

I am not a fanatic about anything. I do what I can do when I've got the time.

I like having a good time. It's probably my mother's Brazilian genes in me - party, party.

I was seen dancing at school by a director, who asked me to be in a TV play. And it had a huge impact. So I think that's what really started me off.

I don't regret the passing of time. I try to live in the present, which should mean my life's full.

Some actors get fired up by the sound of the audience. I just want to retreat.

I couldn't imagine playing someone young now; it would be so boring.

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

I do think it's important to live in the present because in that way you won't be living in a state of regret.

I can easily sleep from nine to 13 hours a night.

I maintain the rather old-fashioned view that this is my work and it's in the public arena, but that doesn't entitle everyone to know what happened at home before coming here.

It's funny, this thing about happiness. It's a commodity that was imported from America in the Fifties. I see myself simply as living my life. . . . I feel it's pushing your luck to define how happy you are.

I have yet to see a drama that puts forward women who are successful and have a family. Women are nearly always seen as victims.

The first thing you have to do is accept that decay sets in and there's nothing you can do about it.

I never pursued being 'famous.'

I don't really have an image of myself. Now, is that true? Well, maybe I do and it's different, which is why I get shocked when I see how other people experience me. I see myself primarily in a domestic setting.

I've never been too afraid of what other people have said, especially when I was younger, but I suppose that was the arrogance of youth.

The wonderful thing about acting is you move along with your decade. The older you get, the more interesting the parts you get to play and you bring more of your personal experience to the part

The thing about doing anything artificial to your hair is that you have to look after it. So you're always vulnerable to the weather and time

I didn't choose to be an actress

Truly charismatic people, in my experience, dont come along very often.

We all know now that people can look good for their age. It isn't so extraordinary, I don't know why people go on about it so much.

I don't want three million people digesting my private life over their cornflakes.

So many stars lose their way, and with success become more neurotic, not less so.

I'm the same weight now as I've always been-even before having children-but I have to say there's been a redistribution of the flesh!

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

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

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

Everyone has class, one class or another.

I was seen dancing at school by a director, who asked me to be in a TV play. And it had a huge impact. So I think thats what really started me off.