Born in London, Helen McCrory was brought up in Africa, Norway and France. She attended the Drama Centre in London and has appeared in the films Enduring Love, Casanova and Charlotte Gray, and on stage in Old Times and A Little World of Our Own. She is currently playing Rosalind in As You Like It. She lives in London.
What’s in your make-up bag? I don’t wear a huge amount but I do use L’Oréal’s mascara and M.A.C’s cream blusher.
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Name your desert-island essentials? Chefs from J. Sheekey, friends and family and free-diving fins.
Do you have a beauty secret? Makeup Forever custom-blend foundation. It’s what ballet dancers wear on stage as you can sweat and it won’t budge. (www.makeupforever.com)
What do you wear on a fat day? The same clothes, just a bit tighter.
How would friends describe your style? Eclectic; and as I grew up in France, I enjoy dressing as a woman.
What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe? My mother’s kaftan from Dharamsala — I have photos of her wearing it when I was little.
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What do you never leave home without? I’m as blind as a bat without my glasses. I don’t wear them, but I carry them in my bag, just in case.
Hot date; what do you wear? Whatever is appropriate to where I’m being taken.
And when you’re home alone? Kaftans, tracksuits.
What do you wear to bed? Nothing.
You’re the fashion police for the day; what do you ban? Rara skirts and asymmetric tops make anyone but 6ft goddesses look lumpy.
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Has your outfit ever embarrassed you? No, I’m not self-conscious enough.
How old is too old for a micro-mini? Worn with tights it’s fine at any age.
If you could live in an era for its fashion, when would you choose and why? The 1940s because women knew what was truly sexy: lips, curves and heels.
What is your most recent purchase? A Betsey Johnson dress.
What qualities do you most admire in a person? Wit, integrity and kindness.
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Can you judge a book by its cover? No.
What is your greatest extravagance? Taking black cabs everywhere. I call Zingo more than I call my mother.
What are your guilty pleasures? I’m not guilty about any pleasure.
And your dirty habits? Drinking wine and smoking in the bath with a good book.
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Name a cheap thrill? Walking along Waterloo Bridge at sunset.
What’s the best advice that you have ever been given? To listen.
Your favourite smell? The back of my boyfriend’s neck.
What are you most and least proud of? Most proud of the friendships I’ve formed and least proud of people that I’ve disappointed.
What would you eat for your last supper, and with whom, dead or alive, would you like to share it? I’d have artichokes, then edamame, chateaubriand, and good red wine shared with Stephen Fry, Dorothy Parker and Groucho Marx.
Yes or no to a nip’n’tuck? For me no, but whatever goes for anyone else.
What part of your body would you change? I’d love to be a foot taller.
What would you like to achieve before you die? To play with my grandchildren.
How would you like to be remembered? A national holiday would be good.
How good-looking are you on a scale of 1-10? It depends on who is looking.
As You Like It is at the Wyndham Theatre (0870 0606633)