I wouldn't go down the route of having an assistant. I don't want to be like that. I want to be normal.

I don't know what kind of swag I'd get if I were extra Irish. It would just be, like, extra potatoes. Or like a free pint of Guinness.

I don't feel isolated on a film set. In a way you do because you don't really mix with the outside world; you're just sort of working non-stop for a few months, but you've got so many people around you.

What we do every St. Patty's day, which is wear green and drink a lot of Guinness. And maybe cry a little bit and laugh, and everyone will have to sing a song. That's how every funeral, christening, and wedding ends up in Ireland. Everyone ends up having to sing a song by the end of it.

It's too distracting to read about yourself. You want to be perfect and you want everyone to love you, and that's never going to happen.

I remember being on Atonement and it felt very right to be there. There was so much excitement every day. I remember very vividly how it felt to be a child on a film set, and that is actually really important to hold on to for as long as you continue to make films.

Joe Wright was almost like a teacher, to be firm with me, that really stuck with me. And that helped me as I've gotten older.