Words matter. These are the best Harriet Walter Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The language is always powerful in Shakespeare, but with ‘Antony and Cleopatra,’ the speeches are so big and muscular and rich – exhausting to speak, actually.
I’ve one of those brains that doesn’t quieten down.
As I have got older, I have become easier on myself. It’s about realising things can’t be perfect.
I’m not very good at going to sleep, and that’s probably my worst problem. I don’t need much more than seven and a half hours, but I probably get six. I take all my problems to bed with me and fret. I can’t switch off.
I’ve found a much better love life in older age.
I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare over the years. You start to realise how the plays fit together; he’s always using pieces from one and slotting them into others.
I vote, but I don’t feel that I’m achieving much when I do.
I’ve been taking lessons in Damehood from Judi Dench. Being a Dame is useful in restaurants, hotels, and restaurants, Judi says, but you have to get someone else to do the booking.
I’m very aware that after you’ve played Cleopatra, there’s not a lot that can top that in this sphere, so it means that I want to almost change the sphere I work in rather completely because I will always be comparing it to Cleopatra.
You need to distinguish between getting something off your chest that won’t help anyone else or saying something because you know you will be hell to live with if you don’t. Quite often, this will be beyond your control.
Love is different at different stages of your life.
Caring less about what people think is a big thing for me.
I do think that there are certain parts, if you are lucky enough to play them, that are bigger than you, and they stretch you. I don’t think you become a bigger person, but you develop certain muscles you didn’t have before.
Luckily, each generation brings forth great writers, actors, directors, and designers.
My centre of who I thought I was was never very consciously about being beautiful or attractive – I think I’m one of those people who’s actually grown into their looks.
I’m an oversharer but selective about who I share with.
I’ve witnessed the survival of the theatre several times when it was meant to be dying.
I read, I gossip, I do crosswords. I think chatting with friends is relaxing. I’ve picked them up all through my life – if you live long enough, you end up with quite a large circle.
I’ve been blessed with pretty strong stamina and healthy genes, so I’d call myself sensible. I’ve had regular mammograms ever since I found a lump in my breast when I was 30. Thankfully, all was well.
When I was really young, I wanted to be a fishmonger’s wife.
I lived with my mother all my life until she died, and I don’t really think I knew her, because I was always using her as my mother, if you know what I mean.
I was not emotionally mature enough to accept any kind of success when I was young. I needed to go that long route.
I think I have a deep-seated fear of being misunderstood. Or being misjudged.
As long as I am still interested and curious, I enjoy getting up in the morning, but I can’t say I have a happy smile on my face 24/7.
I came up almost completely through the subsidised theatre. I have never been absolutely at the market interface, where I’ve got to sell my wares or die – I’ve always been protected from that.
