I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be an actor. It has just always been an inevitability on some level.

I was the kid that grew up watching Bette Davis films.

I read everything. I’ve always got a book on the go and I’m really nerdy about it, I get through books and don’t remember anything about them afterwards. But I read all sorts, from classic...

I’ve played an awful lot of repressed people.

I’m very nerdy about my music, and I like interrogating people about what they put on playlists.

I would say that maybe directors who act as well are easier with actors. I’m not saying that all directors have this, but sometimes you’ll come across a director who sort of looks at an...

Lentil dhal is the only thing I can cook.

I’ve never been desperate to please my father.

There’s always going to be a separate version of you that people will create, and you have no control over it.

To read a character I’m not sympathizing with is generally quite a good, attractive proposition because I’ve got somewhere to go, I’ve got work to do, to try to understand why they behave like they...

I used to have the most visceral response to having my photo taken. I felt like instantly bursting into tears and running out of the room. I hated all the attention, which is such a...

It sounds trite, but I like telling stories.

I always look for contradiction in a character.

Whenever I’m in theatre situations I will go out of my way not to talk about my father, but in the film world I can be really proud of my family and say, ‘You know...

I quite enjoy cooking but I’m not consistent. I can’t follow the recipe book. If something goes well, I’ll never make it again, which is completely stupid. It’s a one-shot kind of deal.

I’ve always had horrible Valentine’s Days.

I’m not consciously avoiding doing a lot of period drama, but I don’t really seek it out either.

I think for a long time it seemed like working in an art form and being a feminist meant portraying women in a perfect, angelic light. And there’s nothing feminist about that.

My childhood was very colourful, and I am very good friends with both my parents. We have no secrets.

One aspect of my mum’s personality that has influenced me is her love of Hollywood and the golden era of black-and-white films.

If pressed, I would say I feel British. It’s where I grew up and where I choose to live, the culture that I love, but I feel perfectly at home in America, I don’t feel...

My mum’s American. She’s from Detroit.

One of the great things about the ‘Iron Man’ franchise is that they employ fascinating actors who don’t necessarily do action movies. Before ‘Iron Man’ you didn’t associate Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow with...

As a child I loved ghost stories.

No family is sane, is it?

There are people all over the world who like to write fan letters in the voice of their pet: ‘Hello, my name is Fifi and I’m a labrador and I think you’re great. Paw paw!’

I don’t like talking about myself, if I’m honest.

‘Twin Peaks’ is my favorite American TV show.

I think acting can be very frustrating, and there’s no experience that doesn’t make you a better actor.

I don’t think that theater is the higher medium, that it’s better than film.

When I was 22, I thought I couldn’t wear heels because of my height.

If you act scared, your body produces adrenaline.

I was a really pretentious teenager.

You either are a good director or you’re not.