Jenny Agutter

“I live in a state of grace, in which I'm aware of where I am and what's happening.”

“I wanted to be a ballerina. I was a good dancer, but not a great dancer. It's a very difficult and competitive profession.”

“The thing about 'Call the Midwife' is that it is a drama about the social history of Britain.”

“I wasn't a child star in the classic sense. I didn't have a pushy mum. I was a stage-struck child, and I had a lucky break.”

“The whole business of being an actor is to be somebody else, and I find that a wonderful, mesmerising thing.”

“There's a strange thing that happens when you are a child actor. It is that you are not really a child.”

“I have always felt that one of the most important things a human being can do is to be compassionate and kind to all other sentient beings.”

“I've not particularly chosen to be a sex symbol, but I've been typecast.”

“People have a tendency to see country life as idyllic. But it's not: there's a great deal of hardship.”