When I was younger, I would mess about and have a laugh with everyone. I was doing Atonement when I was about 12, and as we went to do this very serious scene, the director Joe [Wright] came up to me ... I'd been giggling right up to the beginning of the take. And he came up to me and said, "Okay, you need to be serious now." I completely idolized him.

I grew up my whole life in Ireland and obviously sound very, very Irish. I feel like it's just one of those things that just charms the socks off of people.

Acting is one of these things that I can't really describe - it's just like, why do you love your mum and dad? You know, you just do.

When I was younger, I would mess about and have a laugh with everyone. I was doing Atonement when I was about 12, and as we went to do this very serious scene, the director Joe [Wright] came up to me ... I'd been giggling right up to the beginning of the take. And he came up to me and said, "Okay, you need to be serious now." I completely idolized him.

I try as best as I can to have a normal life. People recognise you, of course, and that's very strange. But I sort of leave my working life behind when I go home. That's my other world.

There's so many modern films where the fans take one side or the other. I'm hoping this isn't going to be like that; I'm hoping it isn't that kind of film at all. What I would love for the audience to take from it is to understand why she was so stuck in the middle and confused.

That's what acting is. You're pretending to be someone else.