Francesca Annis Quotes

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.

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.

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.

I've always kept fit but I've been doing gym and yoga and will be throwing my stilettoes away for a while!

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

I don't need a piece of paper to suggest that I can commit myself.

I don't want three million people digesting my private life over their cornflakes.

I think you live a fuller life with someone else, you know, you're firing on all cylinders. It can be a nightmare at times, we all know that, but nevertheless in the end I think to have someone else's input on anything - a book, a meal, your children, life, a walk - is fantastic.

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

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.

I don't believe in expending energy on something you can't do anything about. If there was some easy way of fixing things, I'd probably do it.

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

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

I'm an actress, not a pinup.

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.

I used to suffer from excessive pride. Well, I got over that one.

I do think it's important to live in the present because in that way you won't be living in a state of regret.

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.

Truly charismatic people, in my experience, don't come along very often.

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

I do find acting cathartic.

My mother was madly adventurous. My father was an actor - he worked with Gielgud - and my mother came from a very wealthy family. She definitely wasn't meant to marry an actor, but she eloped with him one lunch-time.

I have got a few misters interested but nobody special these days.

I was always going to be a dancer - I drifted into acting.

I was seen dancing at school by a director, who asked me to be in a TV play. And it had a huge impact. So I think that's what really started me off.

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

I have yet to see a drama that puts forward women who are successful and also have a family ... they are nearly always seen as victims.

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.

I didn't choose to be an actress.

I can easily sleep from nine to 13 hours a night.

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

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

Having children with someone is the real bond.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

I come from a very hospitable, close, Catholic, matriarchal family.

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.

I've never been too afraid of what other people have said, especially when I was younger, but I suppose that was the arrogance of youth.

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.

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.

In the theatre, once you've gone about eight rows back, everybody else is just listening to you. You're very small, and nobody can really see what you're doing.

My children were brought up with their grandparents, and I was brought up with my grandparents. I think the continuity of moving through life together gives people a certain pride and sense of security.

I have always done exercise because I was a dancer, and it is probably good for you. I have done yoga consistently.

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.

From one till seven, when we moved to England, I spoke only Portuguese. But I can't speak a word of it now.

I turned down a lot of films.

Eat well and sleep well. That will feed your nervous system and your psyche. As you get older, you look how you feel.

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

Everyone has class, one class or another.

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

I don't really have an image of myself. Now, is that true? Well, maybe I do and it's different, which is why I get shocked when I see how other people experience me. I see myself primarily in a domestic setting.

I've never been married and I've no more desire to be married now than I ever have. I hate bureaucracy and I am not religious.

I never pursued being 'famous.'

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

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

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.