My Heroes and Heroines: Una Stubbs I feel very lucky to have her as my agent; she's a strong and funny woman. Sometimes people will say, "Your agent is tough," and I think, "Yes she is. But only as an agent, not as a human being. He cast me as Hester in The Deep Blue Sea and has encouraged me ever since. A lot of directors will say Shakespeare has to be done in a certain way but he used to tell me to just say the words because if you have rhythm in yourself it will come out in the way you speak the verse. Kathleen Daisy Rawlinson My gran was very funny and a little bit naughty too. When we listened to the radio, if the jokes were smutty she would giggle for ages - tears pouring down her face. Dougie Squires The choreographer and director has been one of my closest friends for 50 years. He is immensely loyal, wise and kind, and was especially brilliant when I was bringing up my boys. Una Stubbs appears in "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" at the National Theatre until Oct 27. nationaltheatre.org.uk She was talking to Sarah Marsh