I was the little, funny one. I felt I was the child among grown women.

I went through bits of the 60s and thought myself a bit of a hippy.

I'd like to think there'll be too much of real life going on for me to want to do much acting.

I'm massively talented, and very, very beautiful in person; the public don't really realise that.

I'm too young at 50. I'm not grown up yet. There's part of everybody like that.

In order to be creative you have to be allowed to fail.

It's getting better but men still earn more and there are more jobs for them. Ageism is a big thing. Parts for women disappear as you get older.

It's very strong after the birth. It's extraordinary. You can't watch anything to do with kids being harmed.

My grandmother lived with us for a short time while I was a child. Old people tend to be slightly more eccentric - they can behave the way they want.

Some people have a terrible stretch between family and work. It is a difficult thing to achieve.

Stage is the most exciting. Film is lovely, because it's like a family.

Suddenly, you are very much in the present, and you learn it's really the place where you should always live.

The money isn't a lure. I've done very well out of this business.

The way I relax is I think, 'I haven't got anything coming up.' I like to know there are months ahead when I've got nothing.

We have to take risks with art. If we don't, it all becomes a bit boring.

You can't help but feel a little bit like a mother to the younger cast members.

Along the way I have been able to choose some themes which ask questions - not necessarily force a message on anyone, but at least invite the audience to question things: jury service, dignity in dying, Ireland - and not least because they force me to ask myself questions. Where do I stand?

Everyone comes up to me saying, 'Cooee, Julie! Hello!' as if I know them. Of course I don't bloody know them. Am I flummoxed by it? Sometimes. I think, 'Ooh, love, go easy.' For a time, I did feel this pressure that I had to be funny, but it passes.

I remember Michael saying, 'Rich and famous? It's much better to be just rich'. I didn't quite get it to begin with. But he's right. You lose anonymity. I say to my family that you've no idea until you lose it how precious anonymity is.

I'll tell you how it happened. The phone rang. Paul, my agent, goes, 'Would you like to play Meryl Streep's?' I said, 'Yeeees! I'll do it, whatever it is.' He said, 'It's Mamma Mia!.' I said, 'Oh no, which character? The fat friend?