EMILIA FOX

Being a mum is the best thing that has ever been given to me in my life.

I never feel lonely if I've got a book - they're like old friends. Even if you're not reading them over and over again, you know they are there. And they're part of your history. They sort of tell a story about your journey through life.

My grandmother, Angela, was the Fox family matriarch. She was magnetic but also wicked. She had this huge life force and was great fun, but she would play each member of the family off against each other, which could make for extremely dramatic Christmases.

I've always had an enormous sense of independence. But I know that sometimes I can be too independent. It is important to be able to share your life - so that is a work in progress for me.

I'm the joke of the family with cooking because I've never done it - primarily because I've been surrounded by people who are so good at it. Mum's brilliant. Boyfriends have always been good at it. I'm waiting for my inner chef to be released.

I love the instantaneous nature of filming rather than the repetition of working in the theatre, but that maybe because I haven't had great experiences working in the theatre.

My mother was very ill when I was 18. She had a brain operation and then a nervous breakdown. It's very strange when you see your parents, who have always been your pillars of strength, suddenly become vulnerable. You don't know whether to be angry that they are not strong or devastated.

I am a single mother - that is the reality.

I am too much of a control freak to be a drinker.

I suppose my life has always been about pleasing people, making sure they're all right, doing the right thing. Then, suddenly, you have to face up to what you want and be honest about it.

I met Jack Nicholson when I was about 10 at a party of my uncle's, and it wasn't so much that I knew his films because I was small, but he wore sunglasses inside at night and I thought that must mean he was very important and was suitably star struck by his charismatic presence.

I'm not crazy about having lots of time to myself. Whenever I come back from filming away, I immediately want to go and see my friends and my family and re-establish my life. I can fill time when I'm alone, but I love being around other people.

People think of me as a privileged young girl born to wear a chiffon party dress. I was born into a big acting family, and although I absolutely adore them, it's taken me time to work out how or where I feel comfortable.

I just get up and live my life for today - try and deal with it as it comes.

I made it to Oxford, but it is not that I am particularly clever, much more that I am a worker bee.

Older men are wiser and that is much cooler to me. I've never been one for going out clubbing or getting off my head, so I always gravitated to men who were similar. They just tended to be older. I think you have more of an adventure with an older man. And a happier journey.

When I was growing up, I wanted to be my half-sister Lucy. She was 14 years older than me and was impossibly glamorous. I grew up in awe of her.

The difficulty with film is you always have to consign a story to being a certain length, whereas with a book you don't have budget constraints; you can cast it yourself.

I'm not very good at time off. I'm happier when I'm working. It's something to do with not knowing what the next job is, so you appreciate it while it's there. I thrive on it, actually. But now I do it to please myself.

I'd really like to visit India and South America. I think India will be a great mix of sightseeing and relaxing, and I've got a feeling it will also be good for one's soul and spirit. And I'd love to go backpacking around South America at some point. I did that in Australia when I was younger, and the camaraderie was great fun.

I was an only child for 15 years and then this lovely present, Fred, came along. It was great - it meant I had my teenage years with a little one around.

I didn't realise my upbringing was unusual until my teens. As the child of two actors, I presumed that visiting film sets and being surrounded by colourful characters was normal.

Only out of great vulnerability do you discover what strength you have. Having a daughter who I love with all my being has helped me mine the source of that strength to previously unknown depths.

I read all the Agatha Christies when I was younger and like Sherlock Holmes. Crime fiction has always fascinated me, but I'll read anything anyone gives me.

Every day I fantasise about situations and little themes I see in front of me that would make a good beginning of a story. But one has to be disciplined and just sit down and do it.