For years, I was often afraid to speak up when I didn't fully understand a script. I'd tie myself in knots.

I love discovering tiny streets.

I don't get recognized all the time, but it tends to happen more in America, and people are so lovely when they do.

I think the success of 'Downton' is partly because there are effectively 18 leading characters, all given equal importance, so it's enormously involving on many levels. But also, it's a new story. It's not like Dickens or Austen, where everyone knows the denouement.

For years, I was often afraid to speak up when I didn't fully understand a script. I'd tie myself in knots.

Othello' was my first Shakespearean discovery. I was obsessed with drama at school, and I studied the play for my English GCSE. Desdemona is the part that everyone wants, but Iago's wife Emilia is the one I've always been drawn to.

'Downton Abbey' has become this huge thing, and I really enjoy the success of it, but I sometimes find myself on the outside looking in, which is sort of a healthy way to look at it so you don't get too caught up in it.