This Much is True

by Miriam Margolyes

When I see a wrong, I will confront it; I strongly believe in sticking up for what is right. Injustice offends me, deeply.

Although I was nominally a grown-up, my reactions were those of a teenager on acid.

Some people thought I shouldn’t have said anything, but she had behaved badly. If I think somebody has done something wrong, I will expose it. In her case, it was a positive pleasure to do it.

When people say to me, ‘Oh, I never talk about money, religion or politics,’ I say, ‘What the fuck do you talk about, then? Those are the things that matter!’ Money is one of life’s essentials and there’s no point pretending that it isn’t. It matters how you earn money, what you do with it, and how you spend it.

I’d advise young actors: ‘Remember that when you go into an audition you have the right to be there. Your talent gives you the right to be there and don’t let anyone put you down. Make them see you as a person. Engage. Make the first move: take control.’

We have now in power a government, chosen by a relatively small number of people, of almost unparalleled incompetence, whose probity is in doubt, whose lack of diligence has killed thousands of people, and whose majority in Parliament prevents their being held to account.

Boris Johnson is like Trump: a ruthless, dangerous narcissist, drunk with power.

You should always be as polite, careful and caring to people as you possibly can be. But if people are nasty and cruel, then fuck it – they’ve got it coming.

The goal of life is to end up wiser. But more importantly, I think it should be to end up kinder, both to yourself and everyone around you (unless, of course, their surname happens to be Johnson).