I like being free to take on any project that inspires me and to trust that the work will speak for itself.

There is the old boys' club, but there are ­people who are "conviction lobbyists" coming from the heart.

Because I had grown up with Jane Austen novels and period dramas, I was very familiar with that period and that world.

I was always the one leading the way in terms of wanting to do acting, singing and dancing.

I try to define myself through my own choices rather than just accepting society's kind of you're that, you're that, let me put you in a box kind of thing.

I like being free to take on any project that inspires me and to trust that the work will speak for itself.

But when you become a slave to a public persona and don’t feel comfortable without it, it becomes a shield and it shouldn’t come at the expense of your self-worth.