I did Wall Street, and then everything that happened with An Education took me up until March. I didn't want to work during that because there was just so much stuff. I didn't realize you had to go to so many parties. It was a nightmare! I had to go to all these parties! The glamour!

I did The Seagull, the Chekhov play, on Broadway, a couple of years ago, and I had done it in London, and I became completely obsessed with the character, Nina, that I played in that. She's an actress. I couldn't find a play after that, that I wanted to do, because I couldn't think of doing anything else. Every part is a disappointment, once you've done that part.

There's always the things that you think are going to be tough. I've been nude once, and I was like, "Oh, that's going to be a nightmare," and actually that was fine.

People always say, "You played such a strong character." I remember someone said that to me when I played a role in Shame, and she was a suicidal mess. I said, "She's not strong at all; she's incredibly weak." But "strong" to people means "real." It means you believe that's a person who exists, as opposed to some two-dimensional depiction of women.

I'm not great at having my picture taken and I don't enjoy that side of it very much but I enjoy being with my friends and it's nice to have a reunion.

It Girl' is such a weird term. It implies I go to parties and drink champagne.

I don't wear a bikini on the beach. I walk around my house in pyjamas. I haven't seen myself naked in the mirror for probably a decade. I'm very prudish.