Kelly Reilly quotes:

I hate to say that my mother was 'just a housewife', because in addition to that she has had lots of part-time secretarial jobs in factories and hospitals, always working really hard for our family.

I need someone who understands an artist's mentality. I couldn't be with someone who wouldn't let me have my freedom.

Auditioning is a horrible experience because you know you are being absolutely scrutinized and judged. There are days where you can do it and days where it's just not happening, and I feel like that's how it is with all artists; you have some days it kind of works.

Obviously, education is hugely important, along with healthcare. They're the basics and you're hurting your own country if you don't pour money into them.

I'm not temperamentally into high comedy. I'm not a Noel Coward kind of girl.

I love strong women in films that are allowed to play women and not male fantasies.

It's lovely to work with a group of actors who make you laugh and smile.

There is a part of me that is not fulfilled by acting. It is a self-involved life; it can feel shallow, but not very often.

Every job feels like my first.

At my school, Shakespeare wasn't on the syllabus - at least not for me.

My personal life, my normal life, is so important to me. To be able to go back to my personal life and leave characters behind is important; I don't keep them with me.

Acting has always been such escapism for me.

I'd prefer to go under the radar and just do the acting without being famous for it.

My family believe you should never be flashy about anything. Maybe that handicapped me a little bit, that extreme humility.

Literally, I don't know where life is gonna go from one day to the next, and that's as exciting as it is tiring.

You put yourself on tape as an actor a lot - and you send them off, they go out into the ether, and you have no idea what's going to come back, or when.

My dad is such a good man, hard-working.

I don't want to be doing fashion shoots and being interviewed about where I shop. Who cares?

I love actresses who are brave and don't do what's expected of them or don't play off how they look or take risks.

When I was younger, I used to write to directors when I was unsure I could play a role. I'd say: 'You've made a terrible mistake.'

As an actor, you always want to keep it different, change it up, and, you know, just to keep yourself inspired and work with interesting characters.

Being at the pinnacle of my career is not to turn up in some multiplex blockbuster.

The reason I act is because I'm trying to understand why people are as they are.

Theatre is where my heart is. It's where I can do my best work. And even if I do films and TV, that's what I want to come back to.

I'd love to work on a real girl piece with some fabulous actresses. I feel like I've worked with so many men.

I'm not a show-off; I'm not an exhibitionist.

I act because I have to, because I need to find out whether I can do it or not - that's what drives me and excites me and lights me up.

I think when you're an actor and you're drawing on your emotions all the time, you need to be quite steady.

I'm a theater actress. I love rehearsal. I could have six weeks of rehearsal and think it's not enough. But on film, you don't get that luxury.

I've no wish to appear in celebrity magazines.

We live in a celebrity-obsessed society.

When it comes to my work, I'm fearless. I go with my gut.

Women do well in their thirties. They put their bags down and say, 'This is who I am - like it or lump it.' There is a more relaxed quality, which I like.

Every moment of living has its own logic, its own meaning.