I'm writing a novel about two actresses who go to New York, because that's what I know about. One has lost touch with reality, disappears and is picked up by a man.

I never wanted to become an actress because I'd read great literature or seen great Shakespeare. It was more just wanting to understand what the people were really like, why they said all the strange things they did.

I never had any acting heroes. I never really went to the theatre.

I always loved my mother, felt loved, but she was judgmental. Her father in Ireland didn't approve of women generally, and she took on his values. She believed her own mother was foolish.

I was feeling very irritable. It was that difficult time of the month when the credit card statement arrives.

I wanted above all else not to be like my mum.

Stage is the most exciting. Film is lovely, because it's like a family.