The great thing about having spent all this time on film sets is that I've been able to watch directors and how they work. I now know that this is what I want to do as well: to tell stories visually. But it's definitely my vision that I want to put across, nobody else's.

I happen to have worked with male directors who don't understand women at all. Not at all. I'm flabbergasted by their ignorance.

In my entire career? I am so sick of being asked, What's it like to kiss Mel Gibson?

I have so many themes I want to explore, so many questions I'd like to raise and develop, and hopefully, I'll get to do just that.

I lead a very boring life.

I listen to Radio 4 and put the iPod on shuffle. I like the randomness of, say, the Stones, then something from Nina Simone, Nick Drake or Bob Dylan.

Actors are accustomed to doing exactly what the director or writer requests us to do, and rarely get involved in that part of the process.