Getting to travel around the world and go to glamorous locations is certainly not what I had as a kid.

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.

To have the kind of success I have had is really amazing, and I am incredibly grateful.

I am always interested in affecting people in some way, making them think about particular areas of history that they have never thought about or that they may have thought about in one way and then changing their view.

Powerful women are the most interesting to play.

I'd like to believe that I would be able to give in the same way Mandela did, but in reality, I don't know whether that is true. It is much more likely that I would be left with an immense sense of injustice and immense desire for revenge.

When I started out in the profession, it was definitely about proving that I was worthy, but after achieving a certain amount of success, I realized I didn't have to prove anything to anybody.