Aisling Bea: ‘I don’t like saying goodbye to characters’

‘When she wrote this book I called Sarah my unofficial GP … I think a lot of comedians are sort of failed teachers, trying to show a subject matter using comedy and their own lives to make it more accessible. Animal is all about the history of human beings and what makes us tick. And there are so many bits of actual science in it that just blew my mind.’

‘The book talks about guilt doing nothing. And just generally for anyone trying to help – whether it’s another community or another group of people or the friends in your life – feeling guilty, like you’re not doing enough, doesn’t help … and it made me want to engage more in action, and how could I use my platform to help.’

‘[Anne Enright] has a darkness in her writing that’s also really funny – I think that’s a very Irish way of writing or talking, being able to use death and darkness alongside comedy.’

‘Even though she’s a hard ass, there’s a beautiful softness to her that you get in the book. And it’s not just about being audacious as a woman. It’s about being audacious as anyone, and having the audacity to own your space and be confident. And someone who is unapologetically confident like that I just find really inspiring.’

‘[Martha] is very, very funny, but seems to upset people without knowing why … I connected to the idea that you can talk about pain through someone funny, and how being sort of “difficult” for want of a word was always Martha’s thing. Only at the end does she realise how loved she is … we can hold on to a narrative about our lives for so long.’