If the markets had behaved badly that would obviously add to people's sense of alarm... but there has been a lot of reassurance coming particularly in the way the Brits handled all this. There seems to be no great fear that something like that is going to happen here.

I definitely wanted to be an actor. I didn't want to be on TV I didn't want to be famous I didn't want to be anyone in particular I just wanted to do it. I see young people now who look at magazines or American Idol and their goal is to have that lifestyle - to have good handbags or go out with cute guys from shows or whatever. But I definitely wanted to be an actor.

I've always been part of comedy. One of the things about our family was that if we were reasonably funny with each other particularly my two brothers and myself when my father was upset with something you'd want to make sure in some way you made him laugh. Because when he didn't laugh you were in trouble!

In my family in particular I think there was a sense we have to work twice as hard.

I am a big fan of smelly cheeses but the rest of the family don't seem to be particularly keen on them.

Personally I think four is the perfect number of children for our particular family. Four is enough to create the frenzied cacophony that my husband and I find so joyful.

In my particular instance I came from a family that didn't have anything. Everything I earned in life I made. Myself. With songs that I wrote.

A lot of what I'm obsessed with is the relationship and the dynamics between people and the family particularly brothers and their father.

It's true Christmas can feel like a lot of work particularly for mothers. But when you look back on all the Christmases in your life you'll find you've created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories good and bad are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul.

All of us grow up in particular realities - a home family a clan a small town a neighborhood. Depending upon how we're brought up we are either deeply aware of the particular reading of reality into which we are born or we are peripherally aware of it.