I think good things come out of having tension with the people that you work with. You've got to be arguing in order to produce something interesting. If everyone's just agreeing with each other, you're not going to push the boundaries.

Those moments when you don't feel self-conscious, when you escape that, are when you produce something meaningful.

It was lucky that Ralph [Fiennes] is someone who understands both film and theater and we were able to understand that scene so well before we took it to the set.

The British vice is overthinking before we speak, which is really annoying. I love the way that, in America, people are more straightforward.

I think in every character there are aspects of yourself that you bring to it. But then it would be really boring to just play yourself.

I want to be paid fairly for the work that I'm doing. That's what every single woman around the world wants. We want to be paid on parity with a man in a similar position. And I think it's important to talk about it.... It's brave of those women to come forward and make a point about it. Now younger actresses will have a confidence in those discussions with their agents and be able to say, "Can we make sure that I'm being paid the right amount for the work that I'm doing?"

I studied English literature at university, but for some reason we only spent one week on [Charles] Dickens, so I remember just trying to find the shortest book that I could find. I was like, "'Hard Times,' really great - it's short, that'll do it."