Imogen Stubbs answers your questions – as it happened

She's played Gertrude to Ben Whishaw's Hamlet, and a superlative Duchess of Malfi – not to mention more leading theatre roles than almost anyone of her generation. The last time she was on stage, in Tennessee Williams's remarkable Orpheus Descending last October, my colleague Lyn Gardner compared her grippingly tense performance to "a pan of boiling water with the lid tight".

Though she's only a few nights away from opening her latest London show, Dermot Canavan's Third Finger, Left Hand, Imogen Stubbs has gamely volunteered out to break out from final rehearsals and pop into the Guardian to answer your questions – so here's your chance to ask her anything you want.

Perhaps you want to find out what's kept her going through nearly 30 years on stage and screen – and whether there really are enough parts for female actors over the age of 30. Maybe you want to know what it was like to play Desdemona to Willard White's Othello. It could be you want to tease out what she most regrets (she once said "it would be indiscreet to share it with Guardian readers"). Or perhaps you're simply curious about what her saxophone playing is like these days. Whatever it is, ask away!

Imogen will be arriving (London traffic allowing) to go live on the site at 1.30pm BST on Wednesday 3 April, and will be here for about 45 minutes. So get in early and post your questions below, then come back tomorrow lunchtime to follow the action.

We've posted the questions and answers here to make it easier to follow:

alanwskinner asks:

I have to play fan for a moment.

I first saw you on stage at the Haymarket in Shaw's own Cherry Orchard, Heartbreak House with Paul Scofield, Vanessa Redgrave and Felicity Kendall. Great performances from you and the other cast members.

The balance of the plays you've been in seems to favour classic drama. Is this deliberate? Do you feel more in tune with that than, say, the plays of Caryl Churchill or even David Hare? And only one Pinter, I think, and no Stoppard - though I think you'd be perfect for the role of Dorothy in Jumpers, or Hannah Jarvis in Arcadia.

ImogenStubbs answers:

You're right, I do love classical theatre. I have done a Stoppard, The Real Thing on the radio, and the workshop of The Coast of Utopia, and I decided not to do the play at the NT because I didn't want to take my clothes off! I'd love to do more Stoppard, glad you saw Heartbreak House, was so lucky to be working with such great actors, and to be be there when Vanessa Redgrave fascinatingly chose to black up as Hesione Hushabye!

sjpf asks:

Hi Imogen, Rumour has it that your new play is comedy but is also about the big C. what drew you to the part? and how do you find it balancing both comedy and tragedy?

ImogenStubbs answers:

Third Finger Left Hand is about cancer, but it's also about lots of other things. I love trying to balance comedy and tragedy, that's partly what drew me to the part, but also wanting to take on a role that frightens me. It is very different from my obvious self, and that makes it both a challenge and very intimidating. Also it's a two-hander, and Amanda Daniels is a fabulous actress!

DominicVulliamy asks:

Hi Imogen, As a big fan of both your work, and the work of the Royal Exchange, what is it about the Theatre space/company that appeals to you as an actress, and would you consider a return to the space?

ImogenStubbs answers:

I love the Royal Exchange; it's a tremendously intimate space with a wonderfully loyal and exciting audience. I would happily go back there, especially if they wouldn't mind rehearsing in London ...

Snotfairy asks:

Loved you in Trevor Nunn's 'Twelfth Night'
You looked as though you were enjoying yourself as 'Cesario' in a tongue in cheek kind of way, was it as much fun as it looked?

ImogenStubbs answers:

I love your name. Sounds like the bolshy fairy you want to play in Midsummer Night's Dream ...

I did enjoy playing a boy in Twelfth Night (a sort-of boy). But to be honest I was between four and seven months pregnant during the shoot, which made playing a boy and a twin something of a challenge ...

JenniferL1952 asks:

Saw you in Orpheus Descending and loved it. I'm really hoping to get to Third Finger, Left Hand too. How does your character in this play compare to previous people you've played?

ImogenStubbs answers:

We play lots of different characters in Third Finger Left Hand; usually I only get to play one, and I'm playing someone tougher and from a very different background from me, and in an outfit that I wouldn't be seen dead in (the tank top and kilt look is great if you're 17, or Jennifer Aniston, who looks good in anything).

Onlinepixie asks:

What draws you to a character? How do you pick your roles? Is there a particular role you've yet to play but would like to? And how does one cope with the emotional demands of roles like St Joan?

ImogenStubbs answers:

are you related to Snotfairy ...?

Picking roles -- recently I've been choosing roles that I hope are very different, slightly out of fear that I have a small, loyal audience and I'm terrified of boring them with the same old stuff. I've played Welsh, Italian, bereaved, cynical, and now I get to dance to Northern Soul.

selfishjean asks:

Ah, yes, that Twelfth Night : I usually hate heavily cut Shakepeare films, but the atmosphere of pleasure and intelligence in that one was irresistible.
A silly question, probably. A few years ago you gamely returned to Oxford to appear in a 'revival' of a production of Three Sisters from the early 80s, of which I saw the original - and several other OUDS productions involving much the same team. I remember you and Jonathan Cullen, but who else was involved and what happened to them? I've been trying to remember for years...

ImogenStubbs answers:

How lovely you saw Three Sisters. We were all so proud of that. It really was magical, largely thanks to Stephen Pickles, who was the creative team. I still see Jonathan Cullen, in fact we did Little Eyolf together last year. Jenny Walderman is devastatingly impressive in the arts, and everyone else is doing wonderfully. I've never since been in a production where people didn't clap at the end because it was so sad. (I've been in productions where people barely clapped, for other reasons ...)

adriansmole asks:

What was it like transitioning from an academic environment like Oxford to one like RADA? Were there many surprising similarities, or disparities?

And you may tire of hearing it, but your Viola/Cesario in "Twelfth Night" was really great - - - spontaneous with the speech and totally convincing as a young, nervous but charismatic adolescent boy. It's a fun movie, and one that I loved growing up - - - the story is able to maintain its farcicality while being filmed and performed in a more natural, plausible style.

Thanks for all your great work!

ImogenStubbs answers:

It's hard moving from academia to acting, because to act well you need to really listen to instinct, and that can be knocked on head by your critical, analysing mind. I had done a lot of revue shows at Oxford, and was hoping to become Emma Thompson. Somehow I ended up being cast as simpering blonde girls who cry a lot.

PabloLuis asks:

Why i haven't seen enough of you in the cinema screens

ImogenStubbs answers:

I've always been very shy in front of a camera. I like rehearsing, and I like the distance of an audience. I think when I have done stuff on screen, my self-consciousness shows, especially if I don't think the scripts are any good. Then it looks as though I have "I'm really sorry for the unutterable bilge that's coming out of my mouth" taped across my forehead.

alwhit asks:

I'm sorry.
I just want to talk to you.
But I don't know how to break the ice.
I thought humour might help.
But I was wrong.
Sorry.
Do you have any amusing theatrical anecdotes?

ImogenStubbs answers:

anecdotes. It's not a funny anecdote, but when we first did Two Noble Kinsmen to a privileged audience of patrons, by the end of what had been a total car-crash of a performance, there wasn't a single member of the audience left. I think it was 1.07am ... It was before the theatre was complete, and no one could find their way on or off, and three people fell off the stage. People kept shouting: "Barry!", who was the director. Which isn't one of the lines in the script.

TravellingFay asks:

Imogen, you seem like a lovely woman, and you're a fiercely talented actor. If you're ever in Bangkok, I'd love to buy you afternoon tea or a mojito.

In the meanwhile, I was wondering, all things being equal, which Shakespearean role you most covet? (In that lovely abstract world where you could be cast as ANYONE, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity & all that jazz.)

ImogenStubbs answers:

I'm there next week! (Sorry, that's not quite true.) But if I am there, please buy me at least a mojito.

Covetable roles: Richard II says some fabulous things, as does Henry V. I'd love to play Juliet again, and I'd love to play Portia in Merchant of Venice. I turned down most of these roles when I was the right age, in the hope of doing something trendier than Shakespeare. I'm an idiot.

Dartnall asks:

Thinking of plays like The Duchess of Malfi, is it sometimes hard to resist the sheer beauty of the lines and remain in character? Do you have to distance yourself from the beauty or does embracing it help authenticity?

ImogenStubbs answers:

It's good to embrace the beauty of the lines. To be honest the Duchess of Malfi is bonkers as a play, and she herself is the lady mayoress of bonkersville. That's the hardest part, the madness, and to speak the beautiful lines at the same time. It's not a play where you can forget your lines (as happened to me one night -- I challenge anyone to make up a speech in the right style).

BrightonClaire asks:

Do you prefer the relatively fleeting nature of a theatrical performance and the chance to adjust it compared to the 'set in stone' nature of film and tv?

ImogenStubbs answers:

Yes, I do enjoy live performance. It's so out of your hands, TV and film, that if it's good it tends to be thanks to someone else. And if it's bad it's your face up there.

I'm going to have to dash, sorry -- thank you so much for all your questions. Please come and see the show if you're in London! Even if you hate the show, you may get to see James McAvoy, who's in the theatre at the same time ...

Bye!