My parents wanted me to be a doctor, and they weren't very happy at the idea of me choosing acting as a career. Everyone in my family went to university - my older brother is a lawyer - but when they saw me for the first time at the theatre, they thought, "OK". They like it very much now.

I love all the shoe shops in Covent Garden. Laura Lee Jewellery on Monmouth Street for delicate gold jewellery. Every time I get a part in an English movie, I buy myself a piece of jewellery from there.

My favourite animal is the koala, but his life would be boring. I would rather be a giraffe so that I could contemplate the beauty of Africa.

I have a dream of re-creating the fantastic family I grew up in with my brother and my parents. I am lucky that I have such a good image of family life - my father and mother are still in love, still happy.

My parents wanted me to be a doctor, and they weren't very happy at the idea of me choosing acting as a career. Everyone in my family went to university - my older brother is a lawyer - but when they saw me for the first time at the theatre, they thought, "OK". They like it very much now.

Back in Rome I did some acting lessons and I realised I loved it more than anything else I had ever done before.