The first time I went to New York, it was really exciting, and I thought, given half the chance, it would be nice to live there - the same with London.
I was born accidentally. I lived accidentally in London. We nearly migrated to New Zealand. So much of my life has been a product of chance, I can't see a meaning in it at all.
After living in LA for 8 years, I sort of wanted a change, but there's not much production in New York, which is where I primarily live, so I just sort of drifted over to London.
Los Angeles is one of the four cultural capitals of the world, but we don't attract as many cultural tourists as New York, London or Paris. I want to change that.
I had a role in 'Crossroads' when I was about 21, and then I went on to perform in 'Small Change' and then 'Piaf' in the Donmar Warehouse, London, and it was when I was there that some casting directors spotted me.
I'll always have a house in London; I'll always call it my home. There might be moments when I get to go and work in different parts of the world, but I'll always come back here.
I don't get to go home as much as I used to, which is a shame. But I don't mind because my mum moved over to London to look after me. I rented her a house just around the corner.
To represent your country at a home Olympics is something special and I'm over the moon to be selected for Team GB. I was pleased to get the qualifying time in Berlin earlier this year and my sole focus is getting in the right shape for London.
Peter Hall was just organizing the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was going to be an ensemble, it was going to be in repertory, it was going to have a home in London as well as in the Midlands, and all of those things were happening at that time.
I am a Londoner and I love my home. There are many things about this country which drive me crazy, but when I am in America, I feel wrong there.
The 2012 London Olympic Games fostered a generation of hope. I witnessed women participating for the very first time, representing every nation.
You know Manchester is always a bit of a hard place for people coming from London, just with all the history. Manchester has this immensely huge and healthy history musically.
When I was little, I grew up in a place called Hertfordshire, which is just near London, but out in the country, and I visited Pakistan in the summers to go and see my family on my dad's side.
I want any excuse to come home. My dad is not a spring chicken any more. If anyone says, 'Go buy a postage stamp in London,' I'll go and do it.
Me being a black girl in London, whose mom is first-generation African and whose dad is West Indian, gives me a different view. I'm coming at soul from my own place.
Dad was the first man I fell in love with. He was a very funny man. He grew up in the East End of London and was very dynamic, and I understood why my mother fell in love with him.
I didn't do very well when I was at school, so my dad gave me the opportunity to travel in Africa. I drove from London to Nairobi. It was incredible.
Being an only child, I didn't have any other family but my mom and dad really, since the rest of my family lived quite far away from London.
Most big cities like London and Glasgow have great big rivers that are unmissable. What's brilliant about the Water of Leith is that it's so hidden. It's a secret.
I lived in London for a time in the '90s and I love it here. You know, I just go and see shows and have great dinners and walk around.
I was brought up in the War. I was an adolescent in the Second World War. And I did witness in London a great deal of the Blitz.
