Actress

One of the things you have to be acutely aware of when shooting episodes out of order is your character's relationship with the other characters.

I'm not really that keen on mainstream; I'm not interested in doing the normal films. I do tend to go for the quirky, different scripts.

Every name in a TV show has to be run by the legal department first.

Fans believe they have a relationship with you, either through your TV character or, more reasonably, through the tweets you may have exchanged. In a way, you have gotten to know them. You learn about people's kids, families, pets.

French cinema allows women to look... a certain way and be talented at the same time.

Every person has parallel tracks. You have your personal life or your life as an artist, or whatever it is you do.

Any friendship or relationship is about a language.

I don't like dressing up, and I don't like putting on make-up or doing the red carpet. The only red carpet events I go to are if I'm supporting a friend.

I took part in two 'Leverage' conventions. Fans fly in from as far as Russia and Australia. It's expensive to attend.

Not surprisingly, there is a cultural divide between American and British actors regarding the self-promotion associated with new media.

I think there was a petition online to get me involved in 'Doctor Who.' I'm not a 'Doctor Who' fanatic, but I am a Steven Moffat fanatic.

I love acting, and I have no desire to direct.

When I had the wonderful occasion to play a goofball, Jane, in 'Coupling,' it was definitely an homage to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who I just think is a genius.

I started elocution lessons because I was being teased, and I had a brilliant drama teacher. At the age of 14, I appeared at the National Theatre in 'The Crucible.'

I don't like crowds or attention.

I eat tons, three full meals a day, and I never go to the gym. When I was a child, my geography teacher said, 'You may be slim now but if you carry on eating like that, you'll end up being really fat.' Fortunately, I really don't think I've changed much in the past two decades, so that teacher was an idiot.

The only time I get recognised is when I go somewhere that is showing 'Coupling' on local television.

Some people think it's an easy gig working as an extra, but you often have to stay very concentrated for long stretches in challenging conditions.

I've never worked in my natural accent, having studied so hard to get rid of it when I moved to England as a child where I was bullied at school for 'talking funny.'

I love those connections that make this big old world feel like a little village.