I think that when you're an actress, you have to think about what kind of a role model you're going to be. I hope that I'm a good role model for young girls. I'm not going to, if people still want me in their movies, I don't want to be one of these girls who goes around partying every night and is in rehab. I don't want to do that.

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.

I've always been quite an active person especially when I was younger. When I was in primary school, I used to play lots of sports. I was a sprinter and I did basketball and swimming and Gaelic football and things like that. So I always thought, I guess, that it would be fun to incorporate that much physical activity and work into a dramatic piece.

I've always wanted to act and I grew up a little on film sets when my dad was working as an actor.

I was 12 and I remember every­thing. I mean, I had done two films before that. The first was actually with Amy Heckerling. It was so brilliant to work with her on my first film. Atonement was the third one I'd done, and I remember how it felt to arrive on set every day. I remember how it felt to get my wig off at the end of the day. I remember how hot it was.

I did find New Zealand similar to Ireland. The people, obviously. I found that, ironically, although these two countries were very far away from each other, their humor was so similar and their outlook on things was quite similar as well.

I think I do believe in the afterlife; I have heard stories from people who I can completely trust that have seen ghosts.