I get grumpy about the innate conservatism of our tastes; I love bold theatre, and I get annoyed when a heritage piece is really successful.

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.

Postwar Europe was morally stagnant, and there was a lot of neo-conservatism.

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

You don't have to conform to a very specific aesthetic today, whereas 1950s women definitely had to.

If you're going to make great art, you have to make it at a huge cost - you have to be prepared to sacrifice what other people think of you, other people's opinions, and you have to make personal sacrifices.

The worst thing you can do as a performer is to judge your character in any way, positively or negatively.