There's not an awful lot that embarrasses me. I'm the kind of actress that absolutely believes in exposing myself.

I think what you feel like as a teenager never really goes away. If you were teased for being fat or thin or having bad teeth, you're always insecure about that particular area of yourself. So I've never thought of myself as any kind of beauty, iconic or otherwise.

If being crazy means living life as if it matters, then I don't mind being completely insane.

With The Reader, I'd just be shattered at the end of every day really. I wouldn't really want to talk. We kept saying, because we were in Berlin: "If we get back at a decent hour, let's go and have a glass of wine." We'd always think it would be a great idea, but then get to the end of the day and then go [acts drowsy and blabs]. It was very difficult for everybody.

As a child, I never heard one woman say to me, "I love my body". Not my mother, my elder sister, my best friend. No one woman has ever said, "I am so proud of my body." So I make sure to say it to Mia , because a positive physical outlook has to start at an early age.

I danced a lot when I was younger, and I've always had decent, shapely legs and thought it's now or never. I mean, when you're pushing 40, are you really going to wander around in a dress that's midthigh length?

Having just had a baby, I'm not going to be thinking about my arse.