Humor & Life Quote by Victoria Wood

Wood’s genius is how she turns a minor PR nuisance into a neat little trap for other people’s assumptions. The line starts with a complaint she’s clearly heard a thousand times - the public myth of the prickly comedian who “hates interviews” because she’s private, severe, or above it all. Then she punctures it with brisk, almost managerial logic: I don’t. I wouldn’t if I didn’t. It’s funny because it’s so unromantic. No tortured-artist mystique, no therapeutic confessional. Just a crisp statement of agency.

The subtext is sharper: interviews are performance too, and Wood is refusing to let the interviewer control the narrative frame. By acknowledging the stereotype first (“People always think”), she shows she’s aware of the persona being projected onto her. By rejecting it in two short sentences, she reasserts authorship. That matters coming from a comedian whose work thrived on the tiny humiliations and social fictions of British life; she knew how easily a story about you hardens into a story instead of you.

Contextually, Wood was often read as shy or guarded, partly because she wasn’t interested in the more modern, relentless mode of celebrity openness. Her comedy observed, it didn’t overshare. So the quote works as a boundary-setting move that’s also a joke: she’s telling you she’s not miserable, but she’s also warning you not to mistake politeness or reserve for bitterness. If you want access, she’s offering it on her terms - and making you laugh while she does.