I became an actress way into my 30s because I thought that I had to find my own way, and that’s why I worked so much in modelling, until I realised that the differences between acting and modelling weren’t that great. I always say that modelling is a little bit like being a silent actress.
Labour long ago realised it could no longer automatically assume that it would win elections in Glasgow and other places where it has taken people’s votes for granted for decades – as we have seen across Scotland at local council and Holyrood elections.
I realised I had an issue with my mobile phone use when a friend started explaining the virtues of the Fast 800 diet and, while still engaged in the conversation, I pulled out my phone and ordered the book before they had finished their sentence.
I do have a touch of OCD, and I used to obsess about research. But I’m better than I was. Gone are the days when I would drive to a set of traffic lights to find out if you could turn left. I finally realised it didn’t matter. A book will not stand or fall on whether or not there’s a branch of Starbucks in Brixton.
I briefly studied martial arts in college and realised that I might not be a great fighter physically, but it gave me mental strength and boosted my confidence.
I briefly did therapy, but after a while, I realised it is just like a farmer complaining about the weather. You can’t fix the weather – you just have to get on with it.
Acting is no longer a taboo. The stigma has gone because people have realised that it’s a perfectly valid career choice.
There wasn’t any one particular moment where I realised, you know what, I’m going to be a musician. The decision more came from a lack of options.
The Modi government started several welfare schemes for poor and realised the dream of corruption-free India.
I remember a nightfall from childhood, far from home and off the known track: I’d been walking with some older boys, but they ran off and left me, and as darkness hurried in, I suddenly realised how far from home I was.
I know conventional wisdom has always been to go to Europe, and I did that early on, and I tried it, but I realised pretty quickly if I wasn’t playing, nothing else mattered – I wasn’t going to be happy.
I was a filmy kid. I was two when I faced the camera for the first time. My parents realised it pretty early, and I’m really thankful to them for their support and help.
But I have on occasion suddenly realised that some men feel slightly threatened by, or slightly baffled by, or confused by, possibly even now, by having a woman in… a very powerful role.
Provocative… I used to be defensive about it, but in the end, I realised it’s exactly right. It’s what we’re trying to do – to provoke thought and discussion and, you know, shake people up to start thinking about things in a different way. I’m interested in messing with what they think is the norm.
I never realised how overwhelming it could be to be loved by people who don’t even know you.
I played in goal for Notts County juniors. I liked that sense that goalkeepers were outsiders, mavericks. But I stopped when I realised I wasn’t going to grow any more. I’m 5ft 7ins so I couldn’t have been a professional.
I realised I owned eight pink suits, which I did not need.
What I’ve learnt is to be in the now. It’s something my mum has always said to me, and when I read a book called ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle, I realised just how important it is.
I read ‘Treasure Island’ for the first time at university. And I started to notice then how unresolved some things were. Later, I realised that Stevenson was interested in sequels, and I wondered whether he would have gone back to it had he lived longer.
I realised that people respond to banal things. They don’t accept their own history, not participating in acceptance within their own being.
I realised some Lazio fans were making monkey noises whenever I touched the ball. It is impossible to know what you are supposed to do in this moment. There were times when I wanted to walk off the pitch to make a point, but then I told myself that this is exactly what they want.
I learnt what I am not good at: listening, staying focused, turning up on time, following orders… I realised that I was going to have to pull off something special, something different.
When I first started out in music, I was so negative. I was knee-deep in the streets. Then my friends started going to jail. They said, ‘Boy, you better start taking this seriously; you got a chance to do something with your life.’ That’s when I realised I had to focus. The music led to the acting.
I couldn’t keep up with trends, I couldn’t really be fashionable. But I really loved clothes. And then I discovered a vintage shop, and realised that I could dress for myself rather than for an industry or trend.
I couldn’t wait to be an adult woman, and I’m glad I felt that way as a kid because, when I grew up, I realised I live in a world where the female form is really disrespected, and society is often trying to wrestle the female form into a shape that looks more like a young boy.
When I saw Spencer Tracy in ‘The Old Man and the Sea,’ I realised the distinction between being an actor and a film star. He was both, and I, too, resolved to try and be both.
If I’m feeling down in the dumps, or like I need a pop of colour, I’ll put on MAC’s Lipstick in Lady Danger. I discovered red lipstick when I did the Oscar season: Chanel sent me one and I realised how classic and glamorous it can be.
I have realised that it has become essential to promote your film. God forbid, if a film doesn’t run, I shouldn’t be blamed for that.
I met a lot of label people at the start of doing this music thing, and I just realised soon that it wasn’t much about music but more so about their paycheck at the end of the day.
I hadn’t realised what an institution ‘Doctor Who’ is.
I’ve realised that my strength is writing around people.
It was only when I started handling Treasury Operations that I realised all of a sudden just how much wealth we have. That is a huge responsibility, so I decided to get on with it and learn how to manage it, because I am a single child and have no siblings to share the responsibility with.
I was 17 years old and missed many things about Barcelona, particularly the food. Fortunately, Sir Alex Ferguson realised my situation and helped me to grow. For me, the gaffer was like a second father.
When I became a ‘rock musician,’ I assumed pop music was easy to write and that interesting rock music, or alternative music, was hard. It was only later I realised that writing a pop song is the hardest thing musically.
When I was 22, I realised I wanted to be an inventor.
When I went to art school, I was just having fun. I realised that was the last chance I had, and then I would have to get a job.
As I was writing, I realised I wasn’t sufficiently extrovert to gather enough interesting souls with tall tales around me. I was no Louis Theroux. But neither was I interested in exploring my inner life in public, in the manner of a Jonathan Raban.
My first ambition was musical theatre, but I realised quite early on that I wouldn’t make the grade.
One of the great things about working on C. elegans was the fact that it was transparent, and so when I first heard that seminar describing GFP, and realised, ‘I work on this transparent animal, this is going to be terrific! I’ll be able to see the cells within the living animal.’
I realised that if we were not in the E.U., there were people in the E.U. who were also members of NATO that would veto our joining NATO.
When I started doing Twitter, I realised there were so many people following me who were going through the same thing I was going through.
I spent too many years of my life stressing over and struggling with my sexuality. But it was a valuable lesson. I realised that by not sharing how you feel, you become inhibited in every facet of life.
To be honest, I hadn’t realised the greatness of film music till I was exposed to film songs after I started living in Mumbai.
While I was designing my home, I was living in different houses all around the world, and I saw thermostats that were just as bad as the ones in the U.S., or houses that needed them but didn’t have them. I realised that this was a worldwide problem. I thought, ‘Let’s fix it.’
I came back to Philips and quickly realised that the TV business had a major performance issue and some structural challenges. Rather than try to tweak it and sit things out, we said we had to go for a structural solution.
So what I do now is to pre-empt that by making the up into a virtue, and telling funny stories about how crap I am before people have a chance to notice it for themselves and think maybe I haven’t realised.
We left ‘Byker Grove,’ had a short recording career and suddenly it finished. The invites to premieres dried up and overnight things stopped. We realised very quickly how fickle this business is. Thinking you’ve lost it all makes you appreciate it a lot more and it sticks with you.
Since I don’t come from a privileged background, I couldn’t afford to be irresponsible with career decisions. I wrote two books alongside my job and resigned only when I realised I can make a living.
I was a late bloomer, but I realised that people really liked it when I played blues scales and, with the piano, I had that insatiable need to prove myself.
