As I was growing up, it was made clear that the fat me wasn't welcome, that a thin person was expected and awaited, and impatiently so.

When popularity is your only goal, doing well in class is going to feature very low, if at all, on your priority list.

Success, in whatever form it takes, is a tricky thing - once you've achieved your goal, then what? Where do you aim?

I'm the co-chair of the PTA at my kids' school, Ashmount Primary, in north Islington, London.

I didn't like children. I didn't think of myself as a child. I didn't like any of the things other children were interested in.

My family was as absolute as the work.Family was first always.

That's been hard being away from the family, because Washington can be lonely. When you tune out of all the activity, that's like, you're alone.

My parents went crazy when they found out that I had gotten the part in 'Conversations With My Father!' I'd never given acting a thought. They were proud of me and very encouraging.