From about the age of 5, I was aware that I didn't fit. I was the black, atheist kid in the all-white, Catholic school run by nuns. I was an anomaly.

[We assume] that the self is an actual living thing, but it's not. It's a projection which our clever brains create in order to cheat ourselves from the reality of death.

From about the age of 5, I was aware that I didn't fit. I was the black, atheist kid in the all-white, Catholic school run by nuns. I was an anomaly.

I see a wiser person than when I was younger: having babies, and passing 30, were the turning points. What women in their 40s - I am 39 - lack in gorgeousness, they make up for in wisdom. I love ageing, despite the drawbacks - thinner, drier skin.

Fear is just part of our DNA and our make-up. By definition, if we've had to be looked after for two years, it means we can't do it on our own and we need other people. That makes trust enormously important and it makes fear massive. Massive fear and trust issues really just defines us. The partner to belief is truth. If we're being fed lies, that's so powerful. And then, when we realize we're being lied to, it's going to make us really angry.

I use the film industry as a pleasure for work and that kind of thing and it's not a pursuit to make me feel happy in my life.

I feel like the sexy clothes put a bar between you. It's like putting an alcohol drenched piece of wood between you and the person, and it's inviting them to be able to think and say the things that they hate about themselves.