I think the beauty of the writing of 'Game of Thrones' is not that the characters are fearless; it's how they overcome their fear, you know?

I know I'm not a conventional beauty. You can read a lot of painful things on the Internet, which criticise you aesthetically - but as far as I'm concerned, that's not what an actress is.

I do as much research as is physically possible when I'm playing a real person, be they alive or dead.

Problems reconciling mom and the wife are difficult in the best of times.

A character on a page has to feel real, and for me the greatest fun is if you could gender-swap the role.

As an actress, I think it’s important to look back and realize that we aren’t always quite as original as we think we are. There’s this grand, textured history for us over the last 100 years of incredible writers, directors, and performers.

I was a very physical child... I was a tree-climber; I was a tomboy.