Smash hit

Line your stomach before treading the boards?
I’m very conscious of what I eat. With the character I’m playing now, for instance, it’s a coffee thing: I drink cups and cups beforehand. In general, though, you need to be calm before going onstage. So I’ll eat a proper meal at 4pm, to give me time to digest.

Favourite fuel?
Just lots of beans and legumes. If I ate something stodgy, I’d ooze on to stage.

What can’t you stomach?
I’m allergic to wheat — isn’t everyone? It makes me feel puffy and uncomfortable.

Vice of choice?
I did get very into Red Bull recently and have only just come back from the other side. It’s dangerous gear; deadly when you’re in its thrall. Luckily, the sickly-sweet taste starts to become slightly repellent after four cans. I still drink it, but I’m not in its grip.

What about the smokes?
I’m a smoker. If I’m working late at night, I will get through maybe ten. I like to think I’m not completely at its beck and call.

Ever tried to quit?
No, I’m not sure I want to.

Worried about brain drain?
It’s a bit of that. Nicotine definitely stimulates something. But it is also a ritualistic thing. We’ve given up on religion and replaced it with other things. My ritual is smoking and working.

Red Bull and fags; are you growing old disgracefully?
I found my first grey hair recently, which seemed a bizarre notion. I couldn’t fathom it. Where did this come from? What strange lifeforce is this? Because in our heads, we freeze at a certain age.

So how old are you today?
In my twenties, definitely.

The golden years?
The thing is, they weren’t. I didn’t particularly enjoy them and never particularly liked how I looked. Fairy godmother, please change . . . I’ve never had any breasts and that used to really upset me. Because I have a bottom, I’ve always felt that I needed breasts for balance.

Ever consider buying some?
I find plastic surgery quite scary. My worry is that I’m slightly obsessive and faddy, and it would become this Pandora’s box. I can do this, and this, and this! Every week I’d be going fora rejig.

Tara Fitzgerald stars in Agatha Christie’s play And Then There Were None at the Gielgud Theatre, London W1, until February 25 (0870 8901105)

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