I sometimes think it's like a weird elastic band. The more tragic your work is, the quicker you snap back. There's a catharsis in telling a miserable old tale; you get rid of demons.

I'm a right pain in the hole for my agent. I won't take certain parts if I think they're offensive or banal. For instance, I won't do a film if I think it's full of violence for violence's sake, or a television drama if I don't think it's intelligent writing.

I'm not a great beauty. That's not me.

People at a point of conflict are always the most interesting stories to tell.

I think American drama is at its best when it takes the domestic and makes it epic, like a Greek tragedy in the front room.

I was quite shy. I used to write stories all the time, and I think that was a worry for my parents.

People can be a bit flagrant when they're having an affair. Most of the time, there's an element of it where they want to be discovered because they're in crisis. They need the boil to be burst, in some way, for a resolution.