Most of the time I was in the background. I never played [the Virgin] Mary. I was always kind of the third angel.

The more you work, the more people can see that you're something different from what's come before.

I guess I'm a bit of a romantic.

I'm very independent, creatively, always trying to push myself - and I think that comes from my mother.

My most treasured item is the brown leather bag that my mum bought me from a little Italian shop for my 21st. It's supposed to be a vanity bag, but I use it as a handbag.

It can be very intense being an actor; it can be quite a small world. Then you speak to your friend who is a scientist and they have a completely different perspective.

Now we live in a time where the public and the private are completely fused and there isn't such a great distinction. We know our private lives are constantly made public. With Facebook and Twitter there isn't such a desire, it feels, to keep things private.