The highest pay cheque my mother ever received funded the building of a nursery school in Shepherd's Bush - the school cost well over three times the money she donated to the making of the film 'The Palestinian.' Unsurprisingly this always goes unmentioned in the press.

Everyone knows in the industry that when these great roles come up, every two years, there's a huge number of people up for them. I'm not one of those top five females that can personally finance any film.

To newspapers and publishing houses I urge the use of fact over fiction, freedom of the press, and responsibility at all times.

There's still a bit of a problem, in that so many leading English roles are taken by American or French actresses.

It's very difficult when there are pictures taken on the red carpet. I find those things so terrifying that another persona just kicks in. I don't recognise myself.

When I very first started out, I had that arrogance of youth.

You grow up by making mistakes. I've made a ton of them, but as long as I keep on failing better, I don't mind.