ME…. AND MY HOUSEKEEPING!

Actor Juliet Stevenson on carrying Marmite in her handbag, wearing her daughter’s cast-offs and her new passion for painting

With actor Juliet Stevenson

How would you describe your

home? It’s a real family home – we’ve lived here for 26 years, so it’s had a whole generation of kids grow up in it. It’s a lovely Victorian terraced house, but I live in a constant state of wanting to make it look more beautiful and failing at it because we’re all hoarders.

How tidy is it? It’s quite ‘busy’. The kitchen is the boiler room of the ship, so I try to keep that tidy. But we have a 7ft dining table where everything happens – we eat, work, polish shoes and iron clothes on it – and that gets messy! What are your kitchen cupboard must-haves? Coffee, my husband’s jam (he’s a brilliant jam-maker), pasta for my youngest, who eats about six times a day, cereal and Marmite. I carry a small pot of Marmite in my handbag, just in case I find myself in a situation where there isn’t any in reach. Would you rather cook for friends or eat out? Eat in, providing Hugh does the cooking. He’s the chef in our house, while I’m in charge of the bills, laundry, cleaning and everything else. What do you always have in your fridge?

Yogurt, oat milk, lots of fruit and salad, and piles of Cheddar cheese, which my son is addicted to. What is your guilty pleasure? Sticking a spoon in the peanut butter jar at 2am – I’m not a sophisticated eater at all! Who are your dream dinner party guests? Leonardo da Vinci, because he was a genius in every single department of life, the poet Emily Dickinson, and my dad and brother – two gorgeous humans whom I lost far too early.

What is your best time-saving tip? Clean with disposable cloths: it saves me filling up a bucket, squeezing mops out and all that dreary stuff.

Are you a saver or a spender? I go from one to the other because it’s an insane earning spectrum in this industry. There are months when I’m making £250 a week for a theatre job, and then I’ll do a TV series and earn much more. What is your biggest extravagance?

Clothes. I really hate wearing clothes that are ‘appropriate’ for my age, though; I’m almost always in trainers, dungarees and my daughter’s cast-offs!

Hugh is the chef in our house, while I’m in charge of the laundry

What is the best bargain you’ve ever found? All the stones and pebbles that I’ve collected over the years. We’ve made a rockery in the garden and it feels like a history of places we’ve been. What did your parents teach you?

Self-discipline. They sent me to boarding school when I was nine and I had to learn to do everything myself. My dad also taught me that it’s fine to be a bit eccentric. What advice will you hand down? ‘To thine own self be true.’ Everything is possible if you are true to yourself. What is your favourite household task? Doing the laundry!

What always lifts you out of a mood? Painting. We had a terrible bereavement in the family during lockdown and a friend said, ‘Why don’t you join my painting class on Zoom?’ Within 10 minutes of the first one, I was in bliss. What keeps you awake at night?

I’m a worrier. Hugh is, too; he’ll wake up in the night and I’ll say, ‘Sweetheart, horizontal thinking is pointless.’ I say that, but I’m guilty of it as well. What is your favourite home comfort?

A big, old red sofa that we have in the kitchen – it’s become the heart of our house. The kids will flop on it and whatever we’re doing – washing-up or working – a conversation always begins. What simple thing sparks joy for you? Our cockapoo, Millie. My kids say I love her more than I love them, which isn’t true, but some days, it’s touch and go! What is your health motto? I don’t have one, and that’s the problem. I’m rubbish at self-care. I don’t sleep enough, I eat badly. I should probably work on that…  The Long Call is coming to ITV and ITV Hub this autumn