"Acting never entered my head. Then I was asked to fill in for someone at the Euston Players, the British Rail am-dram group." - Brenda Blethyn
"Anything where people have to work together makes me cry." - Brenda Blethyn
"Before every performance, I think I am about to keel over." - Brenda Blethyn
"Being a secretary was considered a very good job in those days." - Brenda Blethyn
"But I was so proud to have won at Cannes, firstly, and the Golden Globe that's such a big deal winning the Golden Globe." - Brenda Blethyn
"Even if I hadn't have been nominated for an Oscar, to have won the Golden Glove was just fantastic." - Brenda Blethyn
"Everyone the world over talks about British actors and British talent and I think that's because we were trained - until now - in theatre." - Brenda Blethyn
"I always considered myself very successful even before the success of Secrets and Lies." - Brenda Blethyn
"I always think 12 times before saying anything." - Brenda Blethyn
"I first worked with Mike Leigh in 1980. He likes you to invent the whole history of the character and I've done it ever since." - Brenda Blethyn
"I hate that people think going to the theatre is a special occasion. I wish people would treat it as normally as going to the cinema." - Brenda Blethyn
"I knew Secrets and Lies was a great film, but I didn't expect it to get the attention it did because none of his other films had and I thought they were just as good." - Brenda Blethyn
"I like the enthusiasm but not the insincerity of Los Angeles." - Brenda Blethyn
"I love silence." - Brenda Blethyn
"I think behind closed doors people behave differently no matter what period we're looking at, because people have to stand up straight in public but can slouch behind closed doors - can you imagine wearing those corsets?" - Brenda Blethyn
"I think people often confuse success with fame and stardom." - Brenda Blethyn
"I've done a lot of costume drama and theatre - the National Theatre and In fact, most of my work at the theatre, at the National Theatre anyway, was period." - Brenda Blethyn
"I've made six films since I made Secrets and Lies but I still live in London and I'd love to do theater." - Brenda Blethyn
"I've never done a big studio film, I've only ever done little ones." - Brenda Blethyn
"In fact at home I sometimes like to be quiet and hear the sounds of the world outside." - Brenda Blethyn
"It's a real leveller, you know, to do theatre at least once every two years." - Brenda Blethyn
"It's the same as any role and I find that you can't lump characters together; because they all have different life experiences, different reasons for being the way they are." - Brenda Blethyn
"Maybe wanting to retire is my ambition." - Brenda Blethyn
"People say to me that I can't be nervous because I've had such a wealth of experience, but I tell them that I have never done this particular part before." - Brenda Blethyn
"The academy awards in England; it's a classy affair as well." - Brenda Blethyn
"The strange thing is that since I've been offered lots of films I think that maybe they think that I've sold out to Hollywood. Which is not the case if anybody's listening." - Brenda Blethyn
"Well I think when classics are made the code of conduct of the period is painted too heavily on top of the natural behaviour." - Brenda Blethyn
"When I left drama school, there were dozens of rep theatres you could apply to where you got a good training." - Brenda Blethyn
"Y'know in fact at the Golden Globe I wore dress jewelry but at the Oscars I thought I'd go for broke and I wore about $3 millions worth of diamonds that I borrowed from Harry Winston." - Brenda Blethyn
