Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Actor best known for playing Lady Macbeth, Elizabeth I, and Joan of Arc on stage and screen.
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
The book
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:59Are you a superstitious person? Do you have rituals before you go on stage?
I am fantastically superstitious. I know it's not fashionable to say, but I am. I'm a really old school superstitious actor. … I always have to have a shower at half hour call.
Presenter asks
4:25Your parents came to the UK because they weren't able to fulfil their dreams. What would they have done if they hadn't been compromised?
Well, I think it was more difficult for them to articulate their dreams. I know that my mother was a very talented athlete, but that wasn't able to be encouraged for various reasons … And my dad … was super bright, you know, and very well read.
Presenter asks
10:15You've said that you were considered at drama school as the runt of the year. What do you mean by that?
I wasn't never, ever going to be a leading lady. I would only ever play small parts in dramas. Pretty much. And I went to a drama school where you were given sort of terms' notice if you were going to be asked to leave at the end of term … I was always on a terms warning, always. But the great thing about that was that I wrote a thousand letters in my final year and walked straight into work straight after.
George Eliot
It's so pertinent, you know, it's about a young woman craving education and the opportunity to love as she pleases. But also it's just so beautifully written and I worked on a stage adaptation of it when I was twenty-five. And it was a glorious time for me. But mostly just because it's the most extraordinary novel.
The luxury
I'm slightly embarrassed to say it, but would be beautiful underwear. ... underneath all of that, I always have lovely underwear. ... if I was stuck on island, how glorious would it be ... I could run around in the most divine bra pants and feel like a million dollars.
Presenter asks
17:20What's been the moment in your own life which has been toughest for you to date off stage?
I've been through a lot, certainly the last few years. It's been all over the papers what I've been through in the last few years, you know, so. … It's about doing the best that you can and I'm really interested in several things. One is the fact that we as a species get our faces out of the dirt and try to feel the sun on them. … Get your face out of the dirt and try to feel the sun on it, you know.
Presenter asks
20:20What about that press scrutiny [of your marriage to James McAvoy]? How do you deal with that kind of scrutiny of things that are private?
There's no escape in as much as you're going through something, you can't leave it at home. You can't go to work and forget about it because everybody at work knows what you're holding hands with. And in that way, it was tricky and also protecting my son from anything like that. Luckily enough, he was young enough for that not to be an issue.
Presenter asks
24:23If you had a daughter and she said at thirteen or fourteen, 'Mum, I'd love to be an actress,' what would you say to her about your industry? Would you trust her to your industry right now?
I would have the conversation with my child. And say: You are your most precious thing, and you have to take care of yourself and know that. The only people who get to share your preciousness are the people you choose. You have a right to say no. If something makes you feeling uncomfortable in any situation in your life, you say no because nothing is worth the betrayal of a yes.
“I had experiences that are probably similar to maybe Muslim kids now put on the radio and hear on talk shows, but people would say, Well, Irish people are terrorists or what have you, you know.”
“And she just looked at me and she said, I think you have the soul of an actor. It was so extraordinary for me, you know, and I'll just never forget her little blue eyes.”
“I don't want to be a crazy person and I'm definitely not going to be a crazy actress. So I walked off stage and Patterson Joseph, I thank him for my whole career really, because that's a long time ago. And he looked at me and he said exactly the right thing, he put his hands on my shoulders and he said, Anne-Ree, there are 250 people out there who've paid a lot of money for their tickets.”
“Get your face out of the dirt and try to feel the sun on it, you know.”
“Grief is an interesting thing, you know, because it comes visiting when it wants. It's servant to no man, you know, and it's absolutely forces you to confront its presence.”