Sharon Horgan

I think the best comedy is tragicomic. Yeah, I suppose if you were to look at everything I've done, there is a bit of a black streak through all of it. It's not deliberate: it's what makes me laugh, and there's a fine tradition of it, especially in Ireland.

Comedy and drama are less ageist media for women than stuff like light entertainment. But in TV or film, women have to be more pleasing on the eye than men.

Things change when you get to 40. I'm embarrassed even that I'm going through it. In a very morbid way, at 40 you become aware of how long you've been on Earth and you start to question what you're going to use the remaining time doing.

I'm a massive scaredy cat. I'm scared of being in a fast car, I'm scared of being on a rollercoaster, I would never go skiing, I would never do anything that had the possibility of endangering my life in any way. I should get some therapy, really.

Spending way too long worrying about what people think about me is a bad habit.

I've never for a second felt like my job has been more of a struggle because I'm a woman.