Imelda Staunton

You can only do your best. That's all you can do. And if it isn't good enough, it isn't good enough.

You could say I'm a character actress. Or maybe a character actress who does peculiar, interesting lead roles. Does that make sense?

We're in a world that celebrates things: success, beauty, money. And I reckon that's really about 4 per cent of the world. The rest of us are just getting on with it.

I think of Oprah as a Mother Joseph wannabe, a daytime oracle rewarding the good and punishing the bad.

I miss America because it's where I grew up. I miss the size of the roads, the size of cars, the malls, the choices of radio.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.