Kelly Reilly

At my school, Shakespeare wasn't on the syllabus - at least not for me.

My personal life, my normal life, is so important to me. To be able to go back to my personal life and leave characters behind is important; I don't keep them with me.

When I was younger, I used to write to directors when I was unsure I could play a role. I'd say: 'You've made a terrible mistake.'

I know I'm not the kind of person who's gonna wind up a walking jukebox, like many rock 'n' roll artists. They just play their hits and that's it. That doesn't appeal to me.

If I can add, say, 10 great new violin concertos to the repertoire before I'm done, that will be truly exciting.

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.