Susan fulfils her closet wish

I've got three kids of my own.

Like any mother, I'm always trying to look cool for them - or at least doing my best not to embarrass them. Not that they're at all interested in anything I do, anyway. Except when it comes to cartoons. And especially when it came to the Rugrats.

One of the great things about the whole Rugrats concept is that everyone can enjoy it. It's rare that you can do anything as a family these days without someone sitting there in absolute misery.

And I've had to sit through some very bad kids entertainment over the years myself. I liked the storyline of a single parent finding love and a child finding a mom in this one. It struck me as a kind of antithesis to Bambi and all those Disney cartoons where the poor mothers are always getting rubbed out. Of course, this movie is very sweet as well. But at least I got to be really bad.

Playing a villain, especially a French one, is the ultimate trip. I think it's everyone's closet wish that you could actually be that nasty - to be able to say all those things and behave so outrageously. My character, Coco, is fabulous to watch. Especially for me, because it's not me, if you see what I mean. I loved the way they designed her and how she gets her glorious Rugrats comeuppance in the end. I only wish I had her wardrobe.

Animation involves a different kind of skill for an actor. I've done James And The Giant Peach and The Simpsons. The process is always straightforward, but each time you're learning something new. The freedom is what's incredible about it, not having the limitations of physical reality.

Still, the way these guys do these things, you sometimes wonder what some of them eat, ingest... or whatever it is they're doing.