“The whole size zero debate is disgusting. My sister, who’s 13, looks amazing – but she’s already worried about her figure.”

I would really love to do a musical, I don’t know in what capacity but something funny.

I am thinking about those things now. More so than all my friends – they’re a lot older than me, but they’re not even thinking about babies.

In the next few years I’d love to play a female version of Doctor Who. I know exactly how I would play her – she would be crafty in a clever kind of way.

I’m happy in the UK. I absolutely love it and I’ve finally got a great group of friends. I’ve got a lovely little flat and my work’s here.

I think Beyonce Knowles got a couple of million for a private show but I would be happy to turn it down.

Yeah, I fancy women big time… I check them out more than I check men out. Maybe I would want to sleep with a woman… Not Beyonce, although I like the look of her, I don’t think she’s that dirty.

I suppose that’s a lot to do with our current climate and financial messes. I certainly see that people seem to have to work harder with a lot less time.

They’re great films but I much prefer the smaller independent films, which are more thought provoking and experimental.

I was freakishly ambitious. I didn’t want to be a child. I wanted my own flat, to work and be a grown up.

I was very similar at 19. I wanted something to happen in life, I wanted a bit more. I wanted to find someone who could challenge my ideas. So I definitely tapped into that.

A musical film is my idea of heaven. You can pre-record, you don’t have to sing live. Singing live was the bit I hated the most. I never felt like a confident singer.

The more things you own, the more people you need to employ.

Weight doesn’t matter as long as you’re happy with yourself.

Don’t look too far ahead or you’ll get overwhelmed. Just do the next apparent thing. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. You’ll get through this. And when you do, you’ll feel great!

My make-up artist, she uses bronzer on the eyelids too. And also a little bit on the forehead to make everything look even.

It never hurts your eyesight to look on the bright side of things.

Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life.

Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.

If you can’t look after something in your care, you have no right to keep it.

I’ve always thought of myself as a catalyst. Look, it’s not without its perils. Ann Coulter called me “learning disabled.” The things people write about me.

The craft of painting has virtually disappeared. There is hardly anyone left who really possesses it. For evidence one has only to look at the painters of this century.