I'm an actor, and I'm supposed to reflect real people. Tamsin Greig More Quotes by Tamsin Greig More Quotes From Tamsin Greig There aren't many laughs in that and I remember doing a look and everybody laughed and I just thought, wow, that's incredible how you can do that. So I did another look and they laughed again and then I remember thinking, hold on, this isn't right for this piece, you've got to stop it. Tamsin Greig laughing looks thinking I did used to like trampolining, but I’m probably past it, I think. You need to have a really strong pelvic floor to be good at trampolining, and I’ve had three children. Tamsin Greig strong children past On my mother's side I'm Polish-Jewish, and on my father's side I'm Scottish puffin. Tamsin Greig puffins mother father It suddenly hit me one day: after we're married I'll be called Mrs T Leaf! Tamsin Greig leafs married one-day Oh, nobody would ever want to know me in Hollywood. I'm far too puffin-faced for that, too weird-looking. No, I think I'll probably stick to telly, if telly'll have me, though I wouldn't mind doing radio plays as well. Tamsin Greig mind play thinking Every drama school in the country turned me down, and so I was lucky to study drama at all, even if it was lowly Birmingham University. But even when I came out with my degree, my mother promptly insisted I go straight to secretarial college to have something to fall back on, just in case - which didn't exactly fill me with confidence. Tamsin Greig mother drama country It's interesting to see the dislocation between how people perceive a person visually. Apparently on the radio I'm blonde with a big arse. Tamsin Greig blonde people interesting When I came to faith, I thought I would have to stop being an actor, because it's all about artifice and manipulation. But we're living in a world where God doesn't really have an influence, unless it's fundamentalists, so I'll always be an outsider because of my faith. And when you think about it, faith and acting are all about stories, so the two are not mutually exclusive. Tamsin Greig acting two thinking If you stop being scared, that's when entropy sets in, and you may as well go home. Tamsin Greig stop go you home I knew a homeless guy who'd give all the copper coins that people gave him to charity. So I think there's something that makes us want to give. For me, it's quite a selfish luxury: you feel enlivened, deepened and self-nurtured by generosity. Tamsin Greig feel me you people I am interested in shows that are not out-and-out gag fests: you see the truth of a broken heart behind them. That is what life is like: it's really funny, you see funny things as soon as you step out of the room, but underneath that is a whole bag of broken hearts. It's that real pain and that real hilarity that makes life so intriguing. Tamsin Greig truth heart life funny We live in a fast-paced culture where we're asked to make snap decisions all day long, so I suppose cash-point donations feed into the immediacy of our life experience. So it's a great idea. But I think it needs careful handling. Tamsin Greig day experience life culture I think if you're trying to be funny, sometimes you're bending a piece of metal in a direction it doesn't want to go. And sometimes comedy just needs to find itself. Tamsin Greig think you sometimes funny You step over the threshold of your parents' home, and you're instantly transported back to your childhood. It's like time travel. You revert at once to a place of arrested development. Tamsin Greig you childhood home time Radio listeners often have a very fertile imagination when it comes to body shape. Tamsin Greig shape radio body imagination I don't ever want to do stuff just for the sake of it. Tamsin Greig ever just want stuff Laughing and crying are very similar. They're an extreme response to life. You see it in children who start laughing hysterically. Tamsin Greig start you life children I'm quite an odd little part of the Venn diagram. I'm not a movie star and beautiful in that way. I do an odd thing that's funny and sad, and my face and my old body can take that. Tamsin Greig face sad beautiful funny I cannot step into any day without help. I have a fantastically engaged husband who is very present for his children and our family life. We've got a brilliant nanny, other help from parents-in-law, godparents, friends. Also, I've had incredible women around me in the business. Tamsin Greig day me family life I know women at work who don't talk about having a baby because they don't want to upset the apple cart, but unless people know what the problems are, why should they engage with it? Tamsin Greig problems women work people
