I've never been desperate to please my father.

I think for a long time it seemed like working in an art form and being a feminist meant portraying women in a perfect, angelic light. And there's nothing feminist about that.

I'm not consciously avoiding doing a lot of period drama, but I don't really seek it out either.

I was a really pretentious teenager.

There's always going to be a separate version of you that people will create, and you have no control over it.

I suppose the reason why I like acting is because I'm curious about human nature, and the less I know about a character on the page, instinctively, in a way, the better.

I would say that maybe directors who act as well are easier with actors. I'm not saying that all directors have this, but sometimes you'll come across a director who sort of looks at an actor a bit like a kind of untrained horse that's been let out of the stable, like they might buck him.