I think acting came later in life when I went to college. I started out there. I wasn't a big star in the school plays or anything. I guess I just really liked stories. I was an English-literature major, and that's all about stories and narratives. Film and theater are very powerful storytelling mediums. You sit in a dark room and enter another world. I love that as a member of the audience, and I sort of wanted to get on the other side.

I don't like travelling. Which is ridiculous. And it's not because I'm afraid of dying on the plane or anything. I just like to stay at home.

I haven't only been offered Hasidic roles.

I'd like to be wanted for my body, too! As an actor I want to play all different kinds of women - independent women but also very vulnerable women.

You know, in America, Christian fundamentalism vs. science. You know, be it teaching Darwinian evolutionary theory or stem cell res- You know, the whole thing, and then the issue of women being educated in Middle Eastern - I mean, it just seems so contemporary. In terms of spirituality, it's interesting because I actually think (her character in Agora) Hypatia is very spiritual.

I prefer being as far from the centre of celebrity as possible.

To come to the Oscars for the first time and be seven months pregnant is quite a thing!