brand new interview i stumbled upon

I copied this from times online. It's so great to hear from her again, it's been so long. And she's expecting a second child. Congratulations Emily!

Emily Watson: I didn’t get where I am today without...Alan Jackson
Emily Watson, 41, actress

Being encouraged to express myself

There was no TV in the house when I was growing up and I think that was a key factor in my development. Not that I wasn’t interested in what everyone else at my rather wacky, fee-paying London school was watching and talking about. When I went to someone else’s and the set was on, I’d watch with mouth agape, unable to tear my eyes away. But ours was a different sort of household, very artistic in spirit: kind of, "Here’s a bucket of paint. Why don’t you throw it at the wall and see what happens?" As a result, my older sister and I grew up with what I suppose was a great sense of entitlement. "Nothing’s a problem," was the ethos. "You can achieve whatever you want to achieve."

Having an ear for a good story

My mother left school at 16 but then, when I was seven, decided to take her A levels. She went on to do a degree and a PhD and became an English teacher. She was a voracious reader and I wanted to do all that she did. My book choices were rather precocious. From eight onwards, I was reading Jane Austen and George Eliot – too young to really get a lot out of the experience but relishing it all the same. I loved creative writing, too, and felt that it was what I wanted to do with my life. But then came university – I went from being very secure and confident to suddenly being very shy and uncertain. Though I’d done a lot of plays at school, I’d never thought of myself as an actress. But, at Bristol, the cool crowd was the drama one and they seemed to like what I did.... As a result, my time there turned into lots of messing around in student theatre and not much academic work at all.

Being swept up by a Danish prince

Being chosen by [director] Lars von Trier so early in my career was transformational [her first screen role was in 1996’s Breaking the Waves, for which she received a Best Actress nomination at that year’s Academy Awards]. The success and notoriety of that film opened doors and gave me the career that I have today [Watson was Oscar-nominated again two years later for her depiction of cellist Jacqueline du Pré in Hilary and Jackie]. On accepting the part Lars offered to me, I committed myself to being as real and truthful in it as I possibly could, but I had no idea what that actually meant until we started the 12-week shoot. It being the first film I’d ever done, I had nothing to compare it with and it was so intense. It took me a long time to get over. For years, I felt I had to match that performance if I was to be any good at all.

Knowing where my priorities lie

When I first got public attention, I was tickled because I took it as a reassurance that I was doing OK. But it’s definitely about the work for me, not fame. Motherhood has changed things hugely [she and actor husband Jack Waters have a two-year-old daughter and are expecting a second child in December]. How long a role will cause me to disappear from family life is the deciding factor now. The Water Horse [adapted from Dick King-Smith’s children’s novel about the origins of the Loch Ness monster] was perfect in that regard. Not only is it a charming story but it was filmed in New Zealand and, whenever I wasn’t needed, Jack and I would go adventuring, with Juliet in a backpack on our shoulders. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect work experience.