I always wear the shoes of the character a week before going on set; the idea of just putting on a new pair of shoes on the first day of filming is just horrific.

I think [Charles] Dickens was an extrovert and Nelly [Ternan] an introvert, and I think that Nelly saw beyond the fame and adulation and she actually loved Dickens essentially for who he was. So I think he felt like she was someone he could be himself with.

I think that when [Charles] Dickens met Nelly [Ternan] it unleashed this sort of carnal, anarchic, cruel energy within him, and literally after she met him he changed his whole life - he separated from [his wife] Catherine, he stopped all the children from seeing her and went on this bitter rampage.

I'm keen to have balance, as much as possible. I put every ounce of myself into my work, but also it's important that I don't miss every single wedding of my best friends. I couldn't do what I do without my friends and family.

Sometimes there are changes that need to be made.

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

Going to auditions is always so nerve-wracking. I don't think they ever get any easier.