“I like to do the pictures before people get too self-conscious. I like to be spontaneous and get a shot before the subject thinks too much about it.”

My mum says that I was born 45, and I do remember at six thinking that I should be earning my own living.

At this particular time, I probably am more comfortable with myself. Just now I’m having a lovely time.

In the movie, you’re moving, you have personality, you don’t have to be great looking.

I enjoy doing an action scene. I’m not a purist as far as films go. If you want to do sex, great. As long as you do it well.

The thing I love about acting is getting to change and look at different people in different lives and do different projects.

Well, the thing about great fictional characters from literature, and the reason that they’re constantly turned into characters in movies, is that they completely speak to what makes people human.

Envy is the last thing that my parents feel.

I cook. I go to farmers markets in London and cook really good sort of organic foods.

I do think that acting is such an unpredictable job, and you’re away a lot. If you’re dating somebody outside the industry, it can be hard to understand that.

If I don’t do this film. I’ll be acting in corsets for the next 20 years.

If only I wasn’t an atheist, I could get away with anything. You’d just ask for forgiveness and then you’d be forgiven. It sounds much better than having to live with guilt.

I don’t think that you can fake warmth. You can fake lust, jealousy, anger; those are all quite easy. But actual, genuine warmth? I don’t think you can fake it.

I tried college for three months but I was desperately unhappy. I just wanted to perform. I was getting straight As but I had no friends and cried every day.

Because it does feel important to say it really doesn’t matter what shape you are.

It’s good to know that other people think differently, and that’s what makes the characters interesting.

A lot of times in cinema today the women are overly sentimental, so I constantly try to do the opposite. I like strident women.