My parents have a strong work ethic, but their attitude to life, their philosophy, is: 'whatever makes you happy.'
You only do good work when you're taking risks and pushing yourself.
My feet are like something from another age - prehistoric and troll-like. I keep expecting them to talk, they have that much character.
I first started acting in primary school, just doing little plays. And from the moment I began, something just went 'click' inside me. Suddenly I wasn't shy anymore. Instead I felt confident and happy. I can remember the enormous sense of relief it gave me. I loved the feeling of making people laugh.
Sometimes you go into a film and you have no time to prepare and have to compress the details into a few days and then rely on the instinct and what happens when you're in a scene with other actors and that chemistry or not.
What works for me is knowing the character in an emotional sense. I wish I was more logical but it doesn't work for me like that. I need quite a lot of time; it's why I always worry when I'm doing more than one thing at a time. I hope that some sort of magic will kick in.
I sort of fall in love with every character I do; you have to understand how they became what they've become, whether they're the ugly kind or the very beautiful kinds of characters.
Different directors have different things, so when I left Mike Leigh, as it were, and I went into other projects after 'All or Nothing,' it took some getting used to - what do you mean there's a script?!?' That kind of thing.
You say something, things you would rather forget, and then they are out there. It makes me anxious and I don't know why people are interested in me anyway. If I had my way, I would rather exist in a little hole and not speak to anyone.
The one thing that's going to get you through this business is having strong roots, being grounded and knowing what is true.
Being in nature is very important to me. I'm not a glamour puss.
I grew up with 'Jane Eyre,' reading it at school, and it's one of those, I think, for a lot of women, a lot of girls, it's the iconic story and so many girls relate to Jane Eyre and her character.
It's different for every project. Some parts are quicker than others to get and know; sometimes right up until the last moment you're just praying that something will click. But you can only do a certain amount of work and then at some point you've got to think: 'OK, I'm just going to have to leap now.'
One of the things I love about acting is that I can enter into these other people's lives. But going back to being me at the end of the day is very important, too. That process of remembering who I am.
I'm not very well known. However, the more well known you get, the more people are going to have expectations of you. Although that's great, it also imposes certain pressures.
I love working and I love doing lots of things and a variety of things. It keeps your mind active... and you don't end up worrying about just the one thing. When I chew things over or analyze too much, that is when I can trip myself up.
You do your bit and then you hope for the best and you think, oh I hope there's an audience at the end of the day.
I don't wear bright orange clothes or leopard skin boots, but it was really good fun to play someone that does and have an excuse too!
I do worry about young people in the business who have experienced a lot of success and are punted around doing those manic publicity trails, when you don't really know who you are yet.
You always want your films to go as far as they can.
