Julie Walters

“It's getting better but men still earn more and there are more jobs for them. Ageism is a big thing. Parts for women disappear as you get older.”

“In order to be creative you have to be allowed to fail.”

“Jane Austen was an extraordinary woman; to actually be able to survive as a novelist in those days - unmarried - was just unheard of.”

“There were all us baby boomers who had a grammar school education, started to learn, then went on the pill, the whole thing, and so there are today a lot more women writers, editors, produce...”

“Some of the most interesting questions needing to be asked today can best be asked on television, or on stage, and they can be wonderful, great dramas, but they won't necessarily be blockbus...”

“It wasn't being an alcoholic - it was going wild. It happened when I got famous. It was like having my teens in my early thirties: blotting out your life, not having to think about anything.”

“My mother was born on a tiny farm in County Mayo. She was meant to stay at home and look after the farm while her brother and sister got an education. However, she came to England on a visit...”

“You can't help but feel a little bit like a mother to the younger cast members.”

“I think comedy's something you can't learn. It's an instinct, which makes it rather elusive.”

“That's why I'm an actress - escaping into a world.”

“I was asked about doing a nude shoot for men's magazine GQ. I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard.”

“Oh all the time when Victoria Wood and I did our series. There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'”

“I never wanted to become an actress because I'd read great literature or seen great Shakespeare. It was more just wanting to understand what the people were really like, why they said all th...”

“Sixty felt like a big landmark. Not in a dreadful sense, but none of the other birthdays have bothered me. It's got labels on it - OAP, retirement - and I just wanted to take stock. I wanted...”

“It's very strong after the birth. It's extraordinary. You can't watch anything to do with kids being harmed.”

“I felt my mother about the place. I don't think she haunts me, but I wouldn't put it past her.”

“I went through bits of the 60s and thought myself a bit of a hippy.”

“Everyone comes up to me saying, 'Cooee, Julie! Hello!' as if I know them. Of course I don't bloody know them. Am I flummoxed by it? Sometimes. I think, 'Ooh, love, go easy.' For a time, I di...”

“The money isn't a lure. I've done very well out of this business.”

“I'm massively talented, and very, very beautiful in person; the public don't really realise that.”