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.

And whatever my weight, I've always been skinny from the waist up.

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.

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.

The early part of my career I really struggled, getting turned down again and again. I was in debt, and it was horrible. And then my family hit such highs in their careers, I asked myself what I was thinking going into the same profession.

Seize the day. Well, I aspire to that anyway.