You can spend a bit of yourself when you give yourself to a character. At the end of a job, you have to remind yourself who and what you are.

I think most conflicts do end with negotiated settlements; some don't, but most do.

It's hilarious to be considered a sex symbol. In school I was a beanpole with a nose I hadn't grown into. Being thought of as sexy makes one employable, but it's not going to last forever, so I try not to think about it. It's like something that exists outside of me.

I did mega-training with ex-military men. I'd be in the gym for two hours after a 12-hour day on Spooks, and it was so hardcore I'd throw up. I stuffed myself with food and drank protein shakes to bulk up. I used to be a dancer, but I had to strap my weak ankles every day and strengthen my wrists so I could hold a machine gun. My body just wasn't up to it.

What could be better in al-Qaeda's mind than to have India and Pakistan going at each other? What more to further their aims?

As far as this citizen is concerned, the decision to commit men and women, who are also sons and daughters, to combat is an extraordinarily important one, and not to be done to just feel good; to be done to absolutely accomplish a mission.

It fills me with dismay sometimes when you look at the scripts that do come to you that are primarily focused on violence. There are so many other things to play around with.