What got you started?
Doing drama at Bangor University with my first boyfriend, [film director] Danny Boyle. I grew up without knowing anyone in the theatre world. Until then, I hadn't realised you could act professionally.
What was your big breakthrough?
Getting the part of Marguerite in Camille at the RSC when I was 24. A heady year in Stratford followed, in which I was cast as Ophelia, got great reviews, bought a flat, and fell in and out of love.
Who or what have you sacrificed for your art?
My sanity, from time to time. You can't go on stage playing a murderess - Lady Macbeth or Goneril - every night and not have some of it rub off on you.
Should all artists suffer to create?
They should pretend they suffer. It sounds more interesting.
What work of art would you most like to own?
The pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris. It changes shape and colour with the light. I could watch it all day.
What one song would feature on the soundtrack to your life?
Van Morrison's Rave On, John Donne, because I like both poetry and partying.
What advice would you give a young actor?
Take about six years off your age. I wish I had.
In the movie of your life, who plays you?
Kathy Burke. I'm told she already does a wicked impersonation of me; cruel but very funny.
Complete this sentence: At heart I'm just a frustrated ...
Sarah Montague. I'd love to present the Today programme [on Radio 4]. It must be such a thrill to nail a politician in the morning.
What's the biggest myth about actors?
That we're all "luvvies": I hate that word. And that we don't do our own washing. Ian McKellen certainly does. And he catches the bus with his Freedom Pass.
What's the worst thing anyone's ever said about you?
I played a Russian in a TV series once, and [critic] AA Gill said I had a very over-the-top accent. I was reading the paper on the tube; I looked up and thought everyone was laughing at me, but nobody else was reading the paper.
Is there anything about your career you regret?
No. I've made some weird, mercurial choices, and some things have been critically panned - the film Sammy and Rosie Get Laid; Pet Shop Boys the Musical; Madame de Sade. But I like doing things that are different.
What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Years ago, Judi Dench told me, "Don't argue with the director, darling; just say yes and then do it in whatever way you were thinking of anyway." Now, I never, ever argue.
In short
Born: Wolverhampton, 1958
Career: Combines TV and film (The IT Crowd; Funland) with theatre. Performs in Madame de Sade at Wyndham's Theatre, London WC2 (0844 482 5120), and in Shane Cullinan's Pieta at St James's Piccadilly, London W1, on 28-29 May.
High point: "Playing Bob Hoskins's wife in the BBC drama The Street. It's one of the hardest and most fulfilling things I've done."
Low point: "Every time I'm not working."
