I'm drawn to scenes in movies where you just see characters turning off lights in a room or putting the groceries away; it's like, 'I understand that.' We all have to get ready for bed, and we all do it in a different way, and yet it's all strangely familiar and strangely human.
There's something very soothing about the simplicity of doing what's right in front of you: paying the rent, buying groceries, and when there's a little extra for a treat like cinnamon rolls, whoopee! When you live paycheck to paycheck, you only have so much to lose.
I believe in a 'give us this day our daily bread' sort of thing. And what I draw from that is, I try not to stock my refrigerator for groceries for the week, cause I might not live to see the full week.
I know what it's like to finish the laundry and to look in the basket five minutes later and it's full again. I know what it's like to pull all the groceries in, and see the teenagers run through, and all of a sudden, all of the groceries you just bought a few hours ago are gone.
When I was studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse, I would overdraft my bank account and not have enough money to buy groceries. But I also discovered how to cook with very limited resources.
Actually going to the supermarket to get my own groceries was a revelation. I'd never had to fill the fridge before, do my laundry, put petrol in my car. It was scary - but there was a kind of joy about it, too.
I moved to New York aged 16, and worked part-time in a Korean store in South Bronx selling groceries, bread and confectionery. I earned $10 and it was painful because I didn't want to be there. I also worked in Debenhams as a kid, and a Wimpy in Brighton when I was 20.