Actors need steely determination. It's a tough profession with plenty of knocks along the way. You have to be very determined and never take 'no' for an answer.

I just feel incredibly lucky. I went to drama school and about 28 of us graduated. I graduated from drama school in 2000, and I would say about two of us are working and able to make a living out of it. It is a tough profession. To have the kind of success I have had is really amazing, and I am incredibly grateful.

I wanted to play roles which offered new ways of viewing black women and black people in general- and I have done that. And I have always, whether I needed to pay the rent or not, I've always turned down roles which I thought were stereotypical. And so when I look at my body of work in that respect, I am really happy. Because I feel my work does say something positive and that was what I always set out to do.

In some ways, except that in that movie [Skyfall] I was mostly screaming and running away from the bad guys, whereas in this one I'm generally jumping into the action and fighting with them. So, yeah, it was somewhat similar, but also very different.

I live on the same street as my family, actually. I live across the road. I'm a real family person!

Hollywood 'friends' are only after one thing. They're looking out for the next big thing, and they don't want to miss out on you just in case.

Kids should be naughty and go through that rebellious phase I didn't have.