My alter egos have changed a lot over the years. When I was a child, I was a black horse called Storm. Whinnying and jumping over bamboo poles in the garden took up pretty much my entire childhood.

I've worked with actors who tell everyone what to do in the scene - that makes me go pretty atomic.

I wish I was a more adventurous person in a way. But actually, security is a really big deal for me.

Nowadays, most women just assume they have a right to be in the workplace, and any kind of discrimination they suffer is sort of more creeping.

I love the theatre and I love working in the theatre but I'm a big cinefile and I love the movies. I also do scribble but to limited success! I think I find being in a room on my own quite hard, which I think a lot of actors do because what we do is so inter-active. It's a very supportive profession... despite its reputation for being highly competitive it's actually one of the most collaborative professions you can do in the arts because you're always working in a team.

I have always been interested in gender politics, so I'm not that keen on doing things that don't represent a truth about women.

I don't really want to play parts that I think are not fully developed or fleshed out, especially with female roles.