FIRST IMPRESSIONS: IMOGEN STUBBS
What are you working on?
I’ve been doing this play, Third Finger, Left Hand, which has taken up a lot of time – there are only two of us in it. I’m also trying to write a book about my childhood: it’s very interesting to go back down memory lane. The play I’m in is actually set around when I was a child, so I’ve been thinking a lot about the 1970s when I was growing up.
When are you at your happiest?
The thing that makes me happiest, other than the birth of my children, is water. When I was a child, and even now, I loved diving into the water and coming up through the surface and into the sunshine.
What is your greatest fear?
That the world will be a very frightening place for our children to live in.
What is your earliest memory?
Sitting under the piano as my mum played it. I was very little, and watched her feet pushing down on the pedals. Her cigarette ash floated down, like nuclear fallout. My mum always smoked when she played piano.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My mother.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I’m not very good at asserting myself. I’m too much of a conciliator.
What is your most treasured possession?
I’m not very materialistic and I don’t own very much as I had almost everything stolen, so I’d have to say my children. But they would hate to be described as my possessions. At the moment I have a lemon tree and I just love it – but that’s not my most treasured possession in the whole world.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Unfairness.
Do you have a fantasy address?
A house on the lake where you could dive out of the window and swim every day.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Every feature is getting considerably closer to the ground. Your face is your history, though, so I’d never have surgery.
What is your favourite book?
I have lots of favourites but I really love Yonnondio by Tillie Olsen. It’s so beautifully written. I also love A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It’s a bit like a Dickens piece, but it’s set in India. It swallows you up and you grieve for the people you leave behind when you finish it.
What is your favourite film?
The Sound Of Music.
What is your favourite record or piece of music?
Music by an Irish composer called Shaun Davey and his piece The Relief Of Derry Symphony. He also wrote the music for the film Twelfth Night.
What is your favourite meal?
Broad beans, roast chicken, mashed potato and gravy.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Desmond Tutu, David Attenborough, Julie Walters, Bill Bryson and John Walsh. The Duchess of Cambridge would also be quite fun at a dinner party, I’d imagine.
Which historical character do you most admire?
The people who set up the NHS after the war, Aneurin Bevan and Clement Attlee.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has said to you?
When people write things about you that are totally untrue and you have no recourse to correct them. It’s certainly the most frustrating thing.
Do you believe in aliens?
I’m open to being surprised.
What is your secret vice?
Taking taxis when I’m being really lazy.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Not as much as I should.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
At the moment, ‘to be fair’. Given that I’m a woman of a certain age, though, I also say ‘God, I’m boiling’ quite a lot.
What single thing would improve your quality of life?
Sunshine.
What would you like your epitaph to be?
‘She did her best’.
Imogen Stubbs appears in Third Finger, Left Hand at Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London SW1, until 27 April. For tickets: www.atgtickets.com
I’ve been doing this play, Third Finger, Left Hand, which has taken up a lot of time – there are only two of us in it. I’m also trying to write a book about my childhood: it’s very interesting to go back down memory lane. The play I’m in is actually set around when I was a child, so I’ve been thinking a lot about the 1970s when I was growing up.
When are you at your happiest?
The thing that makes me happiest, other than the birth of my children, is water. When I was a child, and even now, I loved diving into the water and coming up through the surface and into the sunshine.
What is your greatest fear?
That the world will be a very frightening place for our children to live in.
What is your earliest memory?
Sitting under the piano as my mum played it. I was very little, and watched her feet pushing down on the pedals. Her cigarette ash floated down, like nuclear fallout. My mum always smoked when she played piano.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My mother.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I’m not very good at asserting myself. I’m too much of a conciliator.
What is your most treasured possession?
I’m not very materialistic and I don’t own very much as I had almost everything stolen, so I’d have to say my children. But they would hate to be described as my possessions. At the moment I have a lemon tree and I just love it – but that’s not my most treasured possession in the whole world.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Unfairness.
Do you have a fantasy address?
A house on the lake where you could dive out of the window and swim every day.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Every feature is getting considerably closer to the ground. Your face is your history, though, so I’d never have surgery.
What is your favourite book?
I have lots of favourites but I really love Yonnondio by Tillie Olsen. It’s so beautifully written. I also love A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It’s a bit like a Dickens piece, but it’s set in India. It swallows you up and you grieve for the people you leave behind when you finish it.
What is your favourite film?
The Sound Of Music.
What is your favourite record or piece of music?
Music by an Irish composer called Shaun Davey and his piece The Relief Of Derry Symphony. He also wrote the music for the film Twelfth Night.
What is your favourite meal?
Broad beans, roast chicken, mashed potato and gravy.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Desmond Tutu, David Attenborough, Julie Walters, Bill Bryson and John Walsh. The Duchess of Cambridge would also be quite fun at a dinner party, I’d imagine.
Which historical character do you most admire?
The people who set up the NHS after the war, Aneurin Bevan and Clement Attlee.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has said to you?
When people write things about you that are totally untrue and you have no recourse to correct them. It’s certainly the most frustrating thing.
Do you believe in aliens?
I’m open to being surprised.
What is your secret vice?
Taking taxis when I’m being really lazy.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Not as much as I should.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
At the moment, ‘to be fair’. Given that I’m a woman of a certain age, though, I also say ‘God, I’m boiling’ quite a lot.
What single thing would improve your quality of life?
Sunshine.
What would you like your epitaph to be?
‘She did her best’.
Imogen Stubbs appears in Third Finger, Left Hand at Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London SW1, until 27 April. For tickets: www.atgtickets.com