The experience of making a movie is far removed from watching the end result. It’s exciting, but it still makes me squirm.

The countryside, particularly, is very good for my head.

I’m really happy in my own skin.

In films I might look glamorous, but I’ve been in hair and make-up for two hours.

Winning the Oscar was like winning all the prizes in one single night that I never won as a kid.

I’ve never left them to go do a film. No, we all go together. I could never leave them. My kids are my whole world.

Femininity for me means happiness and freedom…freedom of being who you are in whatever shape or size you come in.

I don’t know why I’m suddenly playing nasty people. It is very fun, though, and it isn’t real, at the end of the day.

I kept my head; I mean, I’ve never been one of those people who ended up in the gutter with sick in my hair.

I am a person. I am not a soap opera.

I was living in my lovely little two-bedroom flat in north London… and suddenly, I couldn’t just walk down the street and buy a pint of milk.

My kids don’t go back and forth; none of this 50/50 time with the mums and dads. My children live with me; that is it.

As a child, I never heard one woman say to me, “I love my body”. Not my mother, my elder sister, my best friend. No one woman has ever said, “I am so proud of my body.” So I make sure to say it to Mia , because a positive physical outlook has to start at an early age.

I do like being busy. I’m not the kind of person who just sits around and goes to a spa when I’m not working.

The things that make me happiest in the whole world are going on the occasional picnic, either with my children or with my partner; big family gatherings; and being able to go to the grocery store – if I can get those things in, I’m doing good.

The growing-up-fast part weirdly happened between the ages of 15 and 22.

I love Lancome’s L’Absolu Rouge lipstick, as it lasts. Unless you spend the whole night snogging, you won’t need to reapply it.

If being crazy means living life as if it matters, then I don’t mind being completely insane.

There’s nothing bloody wrong with wanting it at all.

I think of myself as a mum who finds the time to go to work. I have to check myself for baby sick before I walk out of the house in the morning. I am really a mum… I know I am a great mother.

Since I was 13 or 14 I’ve always felt older than I actually am.

I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a relatively slow reader.

I’ve decided I am going to start loving my backside because I don’t know anyone who does that. And for my daughter, I want to be able to say to her, ‘I love this.’

Real luxury is having the time to read endless stories in bed with my children. And I get that all the time. I’m so blessed.

There’s always going to be a part of me that worries about not looking as slim as other actresses.

‘Holy Smoke‘ is very brave because I don’t think it’s easy to watch.

By nature, I’m a very positive person, and because I’m happy in myself, and in my life, and I’ve got a great husband, and beautiful children, and I have a job that I love that calls for a certain amount of emotional expression, I get to realise a lot of my dreams and aspirations.

Who doesn’t love to be surprised?

I know the true meaning of getting by by the skin of my teeth; I do. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got money or you haven‘t, whether you’re famous or not. This is the case for all women, actually; you have to carry on. You always have to carry on. And you can, because you have to.

I don’t read magazine articles that I’ve been in.

I accept my body. I accept how I am and make the best of what I am given.

To produce foie gras, ducks and geese are force-fed enormous amounts of grain and fat, which causes their livers to swell to many times the normal size.

I’m not the kind of person who’s going to look at the top of a mountain and go, ‘Oh, look at that! That’s lovely. That’s lovely, that top of that mountain.’ I’m the kind of person who’s going to go, ‘Oh, my God! That’s so lovely! Let’s go climb up it!’

I will tell you that when I was heavy, people would say to me – and it was such a backhanded compliment – they would say, ‘You’ve got such a beautiful face,’ in the way of, like, ‘Oh, isn’t it a shame that from the neck down you’re questionable.’

‘Harry Potter‘ really harnessed the imagination of so many young-adult minds, and it’s the same with the ‘Divergent‘ series.

I think that between 27 and 37 was a really big learning decade.

I love it when a character requires me to look less than my red-carpet best.

When you’re 21, you think, ‘Oh God, when I’m 36, oh God, that’s nearly 40 and I’ll look really old and wrinkly by then.’ And actually, I quite like the way I look.

It’s often assumed that British actors read Shakespeare and sonnets as we’re going to bed at night and we’re all very familiar with it.

I wouldn’t dream of working on something that didn’t make my gut rumble and my heart want to explode.

I think confidence does come with time, and I’ve been really surprised by that, actually.

My skin still crawls if you call me a movie star. I get embarrassed. I think, don’t be ridiculous. Maybe it’s because I’m British. To me, Julia Roberts that’s a movie star. But when people do call me one, that, I think, is an enormous compliment but, my God, is that a responsibility!

I’m not a believer in hiding things from my kids because ultimately they are going to have questions – they feel things.

I’ve decided I am going to start loving my backside because I don’t know anyone who does that.

I am enjoying my face changing, as well as realizing that at the same time, as you get older, the machine isn’t as well-oiled as it was.

When I first met Alan, I was absolutely terrified. I was 19, he was Alan Rickman, and he’s got that voice, and I remember meeting him in the hair and make-up trailer and thinking, ‘I’m going to die. He thinks I’m rubbish. Why am I here?’

It’s really weird ’cause when you’re 21 you think, ‘Oh God, when I’m 36, oh God, that’s nearly 40, and I’ll look really old and wrinkly by then.’ And actually, I quite like the way I look.

Film, schmilm. I’m telling you, television is so much harder.

No actor wants to play someone else‘s performance.

Marriage has made me safer.

I was suddenly really famous, and I didn’t know how to cope. I didn’t know myself well enough as a person, number one, and as an actor, number two. I wanted to escape.

Jane Campion is a tough director.

As a woman, especially when you have children, one gets so good at soldiering on – almost too good.

I wanted to play incredibly challenging, multifaceted characters. Because we are all a puzzle.

‘The Reader’ is about a young man‘s experience of falling in love with somebody who, it turns out, made some choices that were unavoidable in her life that resulted in horrific crimes against humanity.

At a certain point in one’s career, it’s really wonderful when your child turns around and goes, ‘Oh my God, Mommy, you have to be in that film. My friends are going to die.’

I finally moved out of my parent‘s house. It was only fair to let my sister have her own room.

I love to cook. I could never give that up.

I am not a hypocrite.

The whole concept of ‘grounding‘ children is utterly stupid – they just go off and rebel and don’t like you. When my kids eventually come along, I don’t want them to not like me.

None of this ‘different diets‘ lark. I can’t remember the last time I tried some new fad.

I hate people thinking I’m some pretentious fraud.

I think heartbreak is something that you learn to live with as opposed to learn to forget.

My husband is not a jealous person in any way.

There’s not an awful lot that embarrasses me. I’m the kind of actress that absolutely believes in exposing myself.

I was very, very thrown by the fact that I had to make some big changes in my life in order to be myself, but under this kind of movie-star banner.

I never had crushes on anybody when I was younger; I really didn’t.

I did absolutely grow up in a world surrounded by people who were always performing and being flamboyant.

I think any form of self-expression is half confidence, half sheer hard work and, maybe, a bit of talent thrown in.

One thing I love about being back is English rain. Looking out of the window now, it’s raining, and the sky is dark; I love it. To me, those are reassuringly English things. I love it when it rains.

Jim Cameron is a feisty man and a perfectionist, but also absolutely brilliant.

My parents met because my father was an actor friend of one of my mom‘s brothers, but my mother has never set foot on the stage – she‘s quite shy. So it’s a strange thing because people say, ‘Oh, coming from acting parents,’ when the idea of acting would literally make my mother just want to throw up.

Plastic surgery and breast implants are fine for people who want that, if it makes them feel better about who they are. But, it makes these people, actors especially, fantasy figures for a fantasy world. Acting is about being real being honest.

Thank God I’m in touch with my emotions enough to be able to pick up my children, kiss them all over and say ‘I love you‘ over and over.

Oh, I had, ‘No one will ever fancy me!’ I had that well into my teens. Even now I do not consider myself to be some kind of great, sexy beauty. I don’t mind the way I’m ageing. No reason to panic just yet. I think I look my age, and that’s fine.

I don’t have those great, strong, glowing pregnancies.

Let me tell you, ‘The Reader’ was not glamorous for me in terms of the body-hair maintenance.

My parents didn’t have any money.

I’d much rather be known as some curvy Kate than as some skinny stick.

You know why I fear people’s judgment? Because I know they’re judging. I know they are.

Growing up, I had a very happy childhood, with two parents who are still very much together.

It’s what you feel, what is in your heart that matters most.

Anyone who’s been through divorce will know that every day is really hard.

Commitment to one other person in life is glorious.

You can’t choose who you fall in love with, you know?

My children can’t see many of the films that I’ve been in because I’m always either dying or taking my clothes off.

Awards season is always a huge amount of fun whether you’re a part of it or not. It’s always really exciting seeing what films are coming and a lot of new talent as well.

You see, I was never a big fan of contemporary movies because they always make actresses and actors look too perfect.

I get up extremely early in the morning.

Ultimately, you just have one life. You never know unless you try. And you never get anywhere unless you ask.

There were nineteen years between my grandparents, and I was in a relationship for five years from the age of fifteen to twenty with a man who was thirteen years older than me who remains one of the loves of my life, and he passed away when I was twenty years old.

It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you do with your life, you will never stop needing your mum. And I will never stop needing mine, so thanks, Mum.

Ah… romance to me is spontaneity. It’s not diamond earrings; it’s a bunch of daffodils that’s freshly picked from the field.

Acting, and the privilege of being able to do it for a living, is so important to me. I don’t turn up and just hope for the best. I really fret about it. I do my homework; I prepare myself for the experience of playing a particular character.

Whenever I go to L.A., the make-up artist or hairdresser will end up having a conversation about how fat they think they are, and I really just can’t take it seriously at all.

Being told to cut off and walk away from a child – I cannot imagine it. I think I’d rather die.

My grandparents – both of my mother’s parents – were actors, and they ran the Reading Repertory Theatre Company, through the town of Reading, where I come from.

It’s very tempting to have a nanny and live in a gated community and have a chef – I’d love to have a few dinners cooked for me. But I don’t want that for my children. When they’re older, if people say to them, ‘Did you have a chef?’ I want them to be shocked by the question.

Glamour to me is about remaining graceful and understated.

I think groundedness is definitely something I grew up with.

The good and bad things are what form us as people… change makes us grow.

I’m only 5-foot-6, but people think I’m sort of a great big Viking woman. I’m not – I’m completely normal and average.

I burp, I fart. I’m a real woman.

Mum and Dad were very much friends and up for life. There was no anxiety for anything when I was growing up; they just taught me to be me.

Regret isn’t good. Every decision one makes in life is made for a reason or another. Whenever something bad happens, I go, ‘This is happening for a reason‘, or, ‘This is going to teach me something’.

The happiness I feel in having a family has brought me a real beauty.

I never saw ‘Titanic‘ as a springboard for bigger films or bigger pay cheques. I knew it could have been that, but I knew it would have destroyed me.

I’m not the pedigree kid. I’m not classically trained. I didn’t come from the fancy home, no.

My body will never go back to what it was, and I wouldn’t expect it to after three babies.

So I won an Oscar. It’s amazing. I’ve got that for the rest of my life for a performance I am proud of. It nearly killed me. I am really proud of the film. That’s it, moving on.

Sure, I could have lots of people who do the cooking, the driving, all that jazz – but I would be unhappy. I wouldn’t want my children raised that way.

I’d rather do theatre and British films than move to L.A. in hopes of getting small roles in American films.

I feel very strongly that ‘curves‘ are natural, womanly and real.

I’d never want to do something just for the show of it.

Look, I’m not a blockbuster star.

I want to end up like Judi Dench. I want to have nice consistent work, doing lovely things, no matter how big or small they might be. I’d like to turn into a wise old thing.

I think more and more people these days go for the safe option in film making.

Because of the person I am I won’t be knocked down — ever. They can say I’m fat, I’m thin, I’m whatever, and I’ll never stop. I just won’t. I’ve got too much to do. I’ve too much to be happy about.

I would like to one day play a man. That is something I do know. I don’t know what kind of man. I don’t know if that would ever happen or not. It would be the ultimate challenge.

I need to be looked after. I’m not talking about diamond rings and nice restaurants and fancy stuff – in fact, that makes me uncomfortable. I didn’t grow up with it, and it’s not me, you know. But I need someone to say to me, ‘Shall I run you a bath?’ or ‘Let’s go to the pub, just us.’

I am a big believer in marriage.

Love to me, God, this is so difficult… To me, love is when you meet that person and you think, ‘This is it, this is who I’m supposed to be with.’

It doesn’t matter how old you are, or what you do in your life, you never stop needing your mom.

I’m obsessed with ‘Top Chef‘.

We’re the kind of family that gets together for Sunday lunch. I see my younger sister all the time.

It makes me sound like a domestic freak, but I care very much about my kids’ nutrition.

I like the idea of, not shocking people, but just throwing people off. Doing something that makes people go, ‘Whoa, whoa, she did that next? Wow, didn’t think she was gonna do something like that next.’

I think there’s a lot of pressure on young people to really be the thing that everyone is telling them that they are, opposed to discovering it for themselves.

As an adult and a parent, when I’m not acting, I’m not acting. I’m being a parent, and I’m on the school run, and I’m sewing labels onto socks. That’s what I’m doing.

Experiencing those moments of being alone… is a very, very weird flooring and exposing position to be in when you’re just not used to it… But I’ve never been lonely. And with my kids Mia and Joe that remains the case.

I want to keep my health and my sanity and be well and feel happy. Plus, I want to have fun.

I resent that there is an image of perfection that is getting thinner and thinner. I’ve got a lovely husband and children, and I didn’t lose weight to find those things.

The highest compliment I could ever receive about my kids – and I can say that this does happen frequently – is when the in-flight crew say to me, ‘Your children are wonderful. They are so well-behaved.’ Every time I am told that, I could weep.

I struggle for what I believe in. Life is short, it’s impossible to repeat something; you have to take advantage of things when you can reach them.

You have to forgive me because I have a habit of not winning things.

Life is short, and it is here to be lived.

I’m often drawn to characters that are more obviously one thing. They’re passionate, and there is always an element of strength because I think every person possesses that in some way, even if they’ve experienced hardship in their lives.

A lot of the girls were awful, very catty. It was a competitive environment that I didn’t like. You have no idea of the anorexia I saw around me.

There’s a lot of judgement that can come from outside sometimes, and there’s media scrutiny that is placed on a lot of women in the public eye, and I just couldn’t care less. I really couldn’t care less.

I have been a parent since I was 25. That’s a large chunk of my adult life. Mother or father, it transforms you completely.

It’s true that you need much time to get rid of the fat girl you once were, but you know I am sincerely grateful for my buttocks.

Kitchens are so important. They’re the heart of everything.

Youre supposed to be the leading lady in your own life, for Gods sake!

Every woman has a mother, and every woman will have an issue with that mother and things that mother did or didn’t do. It just depends on how you choose to process the lessons that you learned from your own mother.

No one has a right to comment on anyone’s life or the choices I do or don’t make.

I feel like I’m playing more of a role walking down the red carpet than when I’m playing an ordinary woman covered in sweat.

I danced a lot when I was younger, and I’ve always had decent, shapely legs and thought it’s now or never. I mean, when you’re pushing 40, are you really going to wander around in a dress that’s midthigh length?

When I was heavy, people would say to me – and it was such a backhanded compliment – they would say, ‘You’ve got such a beautiful face,’ in the way of, like, ‘Oh, isn’t it a shame that from the neck down you’re questionable.’

I am a person. I am not a soap opera. There is never going to be a next [tabloid] installment about my life because my own stuff is my own stuff.

I love the routine. I love getting up in the morning and getting breakfast and packing lunches and doing the school run. Those things are really important to me. Because I think that those small but key moments are crucial for a kid.

I have always lived an ordinary life, and always will. It’s who and what has to do with my job that makes it ‘unordinary.’ I cook, go to the supermarket, pick my children up at school.

People still do fall in and out of love and can and cannot express what they feel and are very much pained because the person they love is with somebody else. That’s happening the whole world over, and I think it always has been.

I don’t read any reviews, so I’m oblivious to what they have to say. I’m completely unaware. It’s fantastic.

It’s funny when someone says to you ‘you’re hot‘ and all that, because I don’t think of it in that way.

My dad was very much a struggling actor and spent more of his life as a postman, as a member of a tarmac firm, as a van driver.

I have wrinkles which are very evident. I will particularly say when I look at movie posters, ‘You guys have airbrushed my forehead. Please, can you change it back?’

It doesn’t make any sense… that’s why I trust it!

My job as the actress playing Hanna Schmitz, as the actress playing any part, is to understand the character, and to ultimately love the character. And I did love Hanna, absolutely, because I understood her as profoundly as I did at the end of the day.

I like the diversity that my children are exposed to every day.

I’ll eat one cookie, not a whole box of cookies. But I’ll still eat the one cookie… sometimes two, or even three. But not the whole box.

I think it’s very important to teach your children to struggle on some level.

I was the kid who never won the races… I wasn’t on the list of the high-achieving.

One of the things that I was always, and still am, is quite resourceful.

Mildred Pierce was capable of great acts of love as a mother.

I won’t allow magazines in the house. When I was younger, I wanted to have my hair cut like so-and-so in the class above me at school, not somebody in a magazine. You see young girls trying to dress like so-and-so because they’ve seen lots of pictures of them.

I have moments when I’ll stare at a script and say, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing!’ But then I push myself into that feeling because I think panic is important.

If I had a child, I wouldn’t let them go to drama school. At times, I was really unhappy there.

I don’t go to the gym because I don’t have time, but I do Pilates workout DVDs for 20 minutes or more every day at home.

I like to do my own make-up.

Before ‘Titanic,’ yes, I had done some things and, yes, I had been nominated for an Academy Award, but I had never been sort of world-famous. And I suppose, yes, I am really famous now. But I feel embarrassed to say that because it’s just a bit daft for me.