The things that prey on my mind in London seem to disappear as soon as I find myself in a different environment. Survival mode kicks in.

I’m not really into makeup, not really into fuffing with hair and stuff.

Because I trained in theater, I always leave a film shoot feeling like I haven’t done anything, like I just sat in front of the camera and whispered, essentially.

I’d love to do an action movie. Something with lots of stunts. Anything fast and dangerous and involving guns.

I have family dotted everywhere – Dad’s in California; I’ve got aunts in Scotland and Virginia; family in Kansas City; family in Manchester and London.

I don’t think I’m curvaceous. It’s simply that most other actresses are really, stupidly tiny.

I think American guys tend to be a bit more forward, a bit more chatty and open than the Brits. The Brits seem to have a darker sense of humor, though I have met some...

My real self, the self I have always been from a child, is a loner and nerd, slightly overweight, with a very heavy fringe. That is who I was as a kid. I don’t think...

Although I grew up in London, I spent summers in Missouri, where my dad lived. It’s quite a liberal town, Kansas City. You’d be surprised.

I think Brits probably feel that Americans are more like us than vice-versa, if that makes sense. Because we get everything American over here in Britain, but yet there are things which are staunchly English...

From a very young age, stories fuelled my imagination in the most wonderful way.

I read a lot of heavy literature when I’m on set, so on holiday I want to indulge in something light-hearted.

I went to drama school for three years, and the whole thing there is that hopefully you are introduced to a man called William Shakespeare who is the greatest of all time of all storytelling.

I love firing guns. It’s an amazing feeling – so sexy and powerful.

I’m deeply ambitious and I always have been.

Skiing in Whistler was great fun. It’s an extreme environment that’s very different to my own and I had never skied before, so I had to learn to take on the elements quite bravely. It...

I am often lost in my own world, with a frown on my face.

It’s people’s worst fantasy to see their partner kissing someone else, even though it’s a job and it’s not real.

When actors get a bad name for diva behavior – I’ve never seen it. Because my experience with people who are really famous actors is that they work really hard.

Documenting trips makes them that much richer. I stick in train tickets and business cards from restaurants. It makes the whole experience poetic, describing the sights, smells and sounds around me. It means I can...

Mum wasn’t at all religious, but she thought that going to the theatre was as important a ceremonial, communal experience that a person could have.

I can’t imagine it if beauty was the only currency I used as an actress. It just doesn’t interest me.

My first job was a Greek tragedy, and ever since, one job just seemed to roll onto the next. I’ve been terribly lucky.

I like characters who have faults. I’m drawn to darker people.

The main reason I did ‘Captain America’ was because I wanted to get out of my own head and stop taking my work so seriously.

I think it’s always easier to play parts that you have something concrete that you can relate to.