Somebody referred to me as a ringleader, which I wouldn't have classed myself as, but anyway, there you go.

It's the idea that when you say 'actress', people think of an airy, floaty, no-brain person, which of course you can't be if you are an actor. It is an unfortunate word, which is why, for a time, I hung on to 'actor', because it just seemed more workmanlike, you know, like you say 'woman doctor' not 'doctoress'.

I like people to be surprised by the turn of events. I don't want things just to be pat and formulaic. If there's some sort of internal combustion in the character or a desire to change the way things are going, that makes for conflict, which is the essence of drama.

It sounds ideal, a sort of beach childhood. But it wasn't really. I didn't use the beach very much at all.

Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.

London keeps me grounded. We don't get praised every time we open our gobs there.

I would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no acting.