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.

I am incredibly passionate about my life, I am absolutely unable to hide any emotion. If I wrote a book, I'd have to call it 'P is for Passion'. I don't go in for anything halfway. My feelings about things are instant, on the spot. And my heart is always, always on my sleeve.

In films I might look glamorous, but I've been in hair and make-up for two hours.

You know, I never felt like I was young at the time and obviosly having Mia was absolutely planned. It's only know when I meet people who are my age and single, [with] no kids, that I reflect and say, 'Bloody hell? I really have leaved at a fast pace.'

I knew it was going to be important that if I had an audience understand who she was, then all those things had to come from a place that was grounded, as opposed to being tics and manners and twitches. I didn't think it was going to be as rich, perhaps, as if I was going to make it more emotional.

There wasn't very much time between wrapping Revolutionary Road and starting The Reader. It was about five and a half months, which, for me, isn't that long. Some actors are very good at just going from one thing to another but I've always been a bit useless at that. The preparation time is important for me.

I accept my body. I accept how I am and make the best of what I am given. Children orientate towards examples. That's why I talk solely positive about my body in front of my daughter.