I buy the odd book. There's a great book out at the moment called Ego Is the Enemy.

I think the thing about Anne Boleyn is there is an exotic quality to her. This is a woman who wasn’t raised in the English court. She was in the French court and Hapsburg court. She has a continental exotic quality to her. She’s quite a fiery woman and incredibly intelligent. So I think Anne really stood out – fire and intelligence and boldness – in comparison to the English roses that were flopping around court, she would’ve stood out. And Henry noticed that.

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

Famously, Anne Boleyn was not a beauty: she was more about quirkiness and an innate sensuality, and there are a lot of references to her eyes. Which sends out a great message for women, because life is not about the aesthetic all the time.

I have been to Canada several times. It was autumn when I visited Vancouver and I will always remember the colour of the trees in British Columbia were stunning.

I started writing it, because it was seven years ago. But yes, that is the genesis of why I started writing.

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