Oh god, I wish. I really wish. If I'm time-poor, which I usually am, that's the first thing to go. And I know it shouldn't be, I know I should be really regular, but I like to get it done as quickly as possible.

Maybe this is my morality coming in again but it was important to me that the actor [ in Notes On A Scandal] was above the age of consent. Although really, what's the difference between 15 and 16? It's the law, yeah, but he's very mature.

I just don't see myself as the heroine in my own narrative.

The interesting thing for me about the debate about same-sex marriage ... is that it's one of those issues where it has no impact on anyone apart from the people that it impacts upon. So I find it quite bewildering that it's - that it's so complicated for people.

After a run of several night events, you begin to appreciate the solitude and the quiet backstage.

o matter how much research you do, or invention you do, whether it's a character from a novel, a completely invented character or someone who actually existed, it's a work of faction. By the very fact you only have an hour and a half or two hours to tell a story, you're telescoping events and it is, in the end, a work of imagination.

I think Pilates is great, especially when you can do it with a trainer who keeps you on track.