I get very irate with actors when they talk about how distressing it all is. I mean, it's only acting. Please.

Maxine Peake

Categorized in : How Talk Only Acting

As I've got older, I've got slightly more fussy. You've got less time; you need to use it wisely.

need more you time

I remember when New Labour got in. I was at Salford Tech studying drama, and everyone was jumping up and down, and I was so upset, I went to a phone box and called my granddad.

phone down upset remember

I'm inspired by films from the early '50s, especially Jean Simmons in 'The Clouded Yellow' - and by vintage swing, psychobilly gigs, sea shanties, and English folklore.

swing vintage sea yellow

When I'm going to work, I often stop and wonder how I've got here. I don't mean literally, but just thinking back to when I first had the idea of being an actress, it seemed so unreal, so unlikely. People like me just didn't become actresses. Every new job I get comes as shock. It's almost as if I'm waiting to be found out.

me waiting work people

It's interesting when people say, 'You always play strong women,' because as far as I'm concerned, women are strong. I think that's what women are. We have got that vulnerability, but we have got that strength. We are survivors.

you women strength people

I think with 'Silk' there's something there for everyone: it's a legal drama, but it's human as well - you get to dip into the lives of the barristers and clerks.

legal think you drama

You don't want to bash viewers over the head with a blunt message or lecture them - they'd soon get bored with that.

head you bored want

I joined the Communist Party when I was 18. When I was 10, there was the miners' strike, and the Cold War was going on; it was quite a potent time to get involved in politics. I got involved through my grandfather, who was a member.

politics grandfather time war

A few things make a person stylish: honesty, imagination with a sprinkling of humour. I still keep an eye on trends, but I don't follow them any more.

stylish honesty eye imagination

Every job still feels like the first time.

job like first-time time

I'm very independent, probably quite selfish, and like being able to disappear at the drop of a hat without having to explain myself - most men would find that a pain, wouldn't they?

myself selfish pain men

I was a tomboy. In my clubbing days, my friend Lucy Davies-Hunt - half-Iranian, looked like Yasmin Le Bon - could wear catsuits, while I was the one in the sweatshirt, jeans, and Fila boots.

wear friend like boots

When I graduated, I was my biggest ever: 15 stone, with a boyfriend - my first - of just 11 stone. I was 23 years old. It wasn't just affecting my career: it was a health issue as well.

old stone career health

I reckoned my accent and class would count against me; I didn't see actresses as being working-class.

being see me class

You want to go to your deathbed saying, 'I didn't sell out.' But it's a tough business to keep to what you believe in and get through and do well.

you tough business believe

I think, as a woman, you've got to make so many sacrifices.

i-think woman think you

I went to the Old Bailey, and I met a judge, and I was petrified, but they were like, 'Oh, you're an actor, well, great.' It was a bit like we're cut from the same cloth a little bit.

judge great like you

I love 'Splash!' and 'Take Me Out.' Not that I'd ever do 'Splash!' It's the parading on British TV in a swimming costume I couldn't handle.

costume me swimming love

I watch 'Take Me Out' mainly for Paddy McGuinness. When we were younger, we worked together as lifeguards at the Bolton Leisure Centre.

out me leisure together

'Toast of London' is a must-watch. Matt Berry's off-the-wall humour is slightly surreal and a little bit deviant. That's why I also love 'House of Fools.'

fools london house love