“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.”

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.

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.

And we’re fortunate if we have parents who are great and loving and inspiring. But, unfortunately, there are people who don’t have that.

It’s an interesting thing when you discover something about yourself. To go: ‘Wow, I’m not the person I thought I was. I’m in the middle of something and I can’t actually deal with it.’

All through my life what I’ve loved doing is watching movies. I love the escapism of film, I love stories. So it is incredible to be able to be in them as much as I am, to see them from the first stitch in a costume to the end product.

Education has for its object the formation of character.

Temperament is the thermometer of character.

A woman of generous character will sacrifice her life a thousand times over for her lover, but will break with him for ever over a question of pride.

To be honest, I don’t think I’m the best role model in the world. I’m pretty immature sometimes.

I became an actor so I can show you characters and never have to show you me.

Character, my friends, is a byproduct. It is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.

I just don’t care what people have to say. I keep pushing toward what I want. It’s just how I am. I don’t know where I got it from.

About Superman and Batman: the former is how America views itself, the latter, darker character is how the rest of the world views America.