Francesca Annis's Quotes

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Truly charismatic people, in my experience, don't 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 like working in theatre now and I think that once you've done a certain amount of films most actors love working in the theatre because of the camaraderie.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Having children with someone is the real bond.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Everyone has class, one class or another.

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

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

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

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 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.

I am pretty self-indulgent.

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.

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

I didn't choose to be an actress.