I would argue [princess] Margaret is the tragic figure of the century.

That's exactly how I felt. So getting to suddenly know this young [princess] Margaret, who had this extraordinary life - it was sad and tragic and difficult and sort of astonishing and getting to know her young self was amazing because it completely defied all my expectations.

[Princess Margaret] was always trying to radicalize things.

I remember somebody saying something to me about Frost/Nixon, when Anthony Hopkins does his famous speech, and the difference in the way Anthony did it was to dramatize, essentially, what was a documentary-style version of that speech. I remember someone saying to me, "There is artistic liberty."

That external struggle mirrors the struggle of this life force of energy that [princess Margaret] was.

[Princess Margaret] was loud, an extrovert, an exhibitionist, loved fashion, loved color, loved music, loved drama, loved the theater, wanted to be a ballerina or actress, was always the little one putting on the school plays, and [princess] Elizabeth reluctantly did it and got stage fright.

At the same time, [princess Margaret] had a fragility and an insecurity in who she was and her position, because her sister had always got the education ever since David [Edward VIII] abdicated.