Alison Steadman: "I enjoy a gin and tonic in the evening"

My earliest memory? When my grandfather was sick in bed and I was brought upstairs to see him. I was very young, maybe two or three years old. I remember he was holding my hand; I think he died the next day. For months, when I came home to my grandmother, I asked to go see him. I thought he was still in bed.

I enjoy a gin and tonic in the evening. I see it as a relaxing thing, especially if I've been busy working. I'm looking forward to that, and the olives. My boys send me rotten for the olives. They know I can't have a drink without a bowl.

I was pretty dazzled when I worked with Tom Jones. I did half an hour on TV with him a few years ago. We played husband and wife. I think it was the second or third day we were rehearsing, when he said, "I feel like I'm a little out of my comfort zone doing this." I said, "Tom, if someone gave me a microphone and told me to go on stage at the Palladium and sing in front of 2,000 people, I would be a little out of my comfort zone." We both just laughed.

I was very afraid to fly. Every time I flew, I was shaking like a leaf. Then I said to myself: “If this continues, it will ruin your life. I got through it – now I'm perfectly fine.

I loved being a mom. I was especially happy to take care of my boys when they were young. I worked, of course - I didn't want my career to disappear. But I would balance it. Life happens in stages. Toby is 44 and Leo is 40. It's good that they want to be with mom a little more again.

Do I mind getting old ? I'm lucky to have had a healthy life. If you don't have your health, you have nothing. I have to count my blessings and every day have fun, live your life, do things. My friends say I do too much. But I want to be like that.

I think I'm an optimist. Although I have to say that now that I'm older, I have days where I feel a bit depressed. I need to pull myself together and move on.

I love bird watching and animal watching. You read about a creature and do a little research and you think: how can a young bird fly to Africa? How? I'm someone who constantly gets lost - I have no sense of direction.

The worst thing anyone ever said to me was when I was told that my mother only had a few months to live. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I said to the consultant, "You mustn't tell my mother that." She would have fainted on the spot. My mother lived for two years.

I'd like to be remembered for my acting and the fact that I've managed to make a living out of it all my life. life, which is not easy. One of the teachers at Liverpool Youth Theatre, a guy called Jim Wiggins, said to me, 'You should go to drama school and become an actor. I would hate the thought of you 20 years from now, stirring your pot of stew, going, "Oh, why didn't I do that?"

Alison is an ambassador for the Marie Curie charity (mariecurie.org.uk)