Lesley Nicol quotes:

I inherited my weight problem from my mum. She was always on diets. If there was a box of chocolates in the house, she'd eat half a chocolate, then put the other half back. She loved me, but she did encourage me to diet in my teens.

'Sweeney Todd' is my favorite Sondheim musical.

Ive been to the White House and had Hilary Clinton push through the crowd to come and meet me. Chelsea Clinton, too.

I've been to the White House and had Hilary Clinton push through the crowd to come and meet me. Chelsea Clinton, too.

Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity I've met as a result of 'Downton Abbey.'

The first role I played was Madame Ranevsky in 'The Cherry Orchard.'

I did an O-level in domestic science when I was at school, but on the day of the practical exam, it was a cookery nightmare.

People have preconceptions about women of a certain age.

I want to have a scene with Maggie Smith.

When you look back, I think things are as they are meant to be. Timing is very important.

Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity Ive met as a result of Downton Abbey.

The first meal my husband ever made me was a chicken curry. I have never tasted anything so delicious in my life.

I'm an ambassador for Medical Detection dogs.

Since I've turned 50, I've had the best roles of my life, and I've got married. Everyone said that wasn't possible because there are no men, but I've done it. I think it's just going to get better.

I believe anything can happen.

People I've never spoken to before come up to me and give me a hug.

I'm very lucky to have a husband who cooks, for a start. It's a good partnership. I met him through a friend, and we just hit it off.

I've not cooked Christmas dinner since 1982.

For many years, I picked the wrong men, or they picked me. I think if you don't feel attractive or worth something as a woman, you attract men who don't really look after you. That's what happened to me, but I realise that those relationships were like a journey, helping me to learn something about myself.

For years, I've felt that there's an inner cook in me just waiting to be unleashed. But I have to confess I'm having an awful lot of trouble finding her in real life.

I took a cookery course. On the examination, I had to cook a cheese omelet with peas and an egg custard. With the egg custard, which was supposed to be a dessert, I forget to put the sugar in, so that's more of a quiche, isn't it?

Visiting a show that's already established can be a bit daunting, as they've been a family already, and you're the newbie.

I can do basics, but I'm not a proper cook. I can do a roast. I can stick a chicken in the oven with vegetables.

I wish I could play the piano. I started when I was four and finished when I was five. I got bored. I couldn't tell my left hand from my right back then!

I don't have any rules when it comes to clothes. I'll wear anything if it fits and looks good.

I always admire people who have passion.

I never imagined I'd go into acting, but I always loved drama, and when I was 16, I discovered the Library Theatre up the road. So I plucked up courage and asked if I could watch rehearsals. It was like Heaven.

My poor cooking is legendary among my friends.

I know it sounds funny, but every time I have a disaster in the kitchen, it knocks my confidence level a little bit more, and I feel annoyed with myself that I can't do better.

I go dog-walking a lot.

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I'd got 'Downton Abbey' when I was 22.

Sweeney Todd' is my favorite Sondheim musical.

I'm not very good with conventional, prim-and-proper people who are well-behaved, grown-up.

As an actor, you never know where the works going to come, so you have to be flexible about it.

I don't like being shouted at.

I guess that is my favorite thing - to make people laugh and also to maybe engage them emotionally and touch them somehow in telling the story.

I mean, I've done musicals, but it's not my best thing.

I think I should be a nightclub singer. I love to sing!

I was painfully shy as a child.

Im an ambassador for Medical Detection dogs.

Ive not cooked Christmas dinner since 1982.

I get invited to a lot more glamorous parties since Ive been in Downton Abbey, which has made me much more fashion conscious.