being tough

You have this image of being a small, vulnerable, pixie-like person. You have played up that image, haven’t you ?

Yeah, but I don’t know how many times I’ve had this conversation with people where, they’ve met me four or five times, got to know me a bit, they say, You know, I thought you were this sort of pixie-type person, but you’re actually one of the toughest people I’ve ever met and I’m yawning at that point. It’s not like playing innocent, it’s just the way I am. It seems to be that when people know me for a while, they realise I’m very tough. But not in a sort of bollocks way, breaking things and shouting. In a more quiet way. My older friends in Iceland, they complain that I’m too hard, too tough. Working hard, dealing with things. And they’re always telling me to relax.

Arena ( US ), 3/95