Juliet Stevenson paints to switch off

Juliet Stevenson has revealed the one activity she does to switch off.

Juliet Stevenson paints to switch off her brain.

The 68-year-old actress – whose notable films include 1991’s Truly, Madly, Deeply, 1996’s Emma and 2002’s Bend It Like Beckham – says being a working mum makes it harder to have time to meditate or practice yoga or Pilates, so she opts for painting.

She told Yours magazine: “I’m not somebody who can meditate, I don’t do yoga, I don’t do Pilates.

“I just don’t have the time. I think when you’re a working mum, that’s it – you’ve got your job, and you’ve got your kids.

“The thing that gets me to switch my brain off more than anything is painting, because you get so obsessed with that pile of colour. You can dive into it and not think about anything else.”

The BAFTA-nominated star finally married her partner Hugh Brody after 30 years together in 2021.

The Olivier-winning actress tied the knot with writer/director Hugh, who is in his 80s, in 2021 after spending more than three decades as a couple and having two children together.

Asked if getting married changed their relationship in anyway, she told the Guardian newspaper in 2024: “Absolutely nothing at all!

“So many people said: ‘Oh, I felt quite different once we got married’, but that’s not true for me.”

She added: “The only reason we did it is we’re older now, and it made a sort of sense.”

Juliet feels incredibly “lucky” to still be madly in love after so many years together.

She said: “To have weathered some of the most challenging storms, and actually love each other even more after many, many years, makes me feel incredibly lucky.

“Love needs time and energy. It’s the most important force in the world.”

The couple was struck by tragedy back in 2020 when Hugh’s son from a previous marriage, Tomo Brody, died suddenly aged 37.

Juliet previously admitted losing her stepson was very painful and “frightening”.

In a previous interview with the Guardian, she said: “Tomo was one of the most beautiful human beings who ever walked the Earth. He was incapable of lying. And he was amazingly good at love. Losing a child, it’s so frightening.”