Actress

I suppose I have played a lot of put-upon women, but it's never bothered me. They've never been weak - they've always got steel in them.

I feel fortunate that I'm not a beauty. I'm not a classic beauty. I feel it is harder for girls who are like that. There are fewer parts.

I am a perfectly normal woman. If what we do is storytelling and represent people that we see all day and every day, well, we do not see supermodels all day and every day.

I've always wanted to play a Marvel baddie. I'm not sure I fit the mold, though. Like a powerful, extraordinary woman. Somebody with superpowers would be really fun, but I'm not sure how many middle-aged women they have in Marvel.

Proper love should be utterly supportive and comfortable, and it feels like a raincoat or a jacket potato.

I was nervous about meeting Charlotte Rampling, as she's a proper legend, but she is just so sweet.

My mum was a nurse, and her passion was geriatric care. I used to love listening to the old people's stories in her nursing home and picturing myself in their place. They'd say, 'I went to school in a horse and cart,' and I'd just think 'Wow!' I'd picture myself in their place - acting was a natural progression.

I used to want to be in 'Downton' because I had never been in a period drama, but then I did 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher' and had to wear one of those frocks and... I didn't feel very comfortable.

You can over-think things. If the script's good, everything you need is in there. I just try and feel it and do it honestly. I also don't learn things for auditions, because I feel like it's just a test of memorising rather than being real.

I think each person you play has a little bit of you in it - you can't really help that.

I'm always keen to have more training as a charity patron.

As a child, I thought, 'Once I am a grown-up, there will be no more fear, no more worries,' and it turns out that's not true.

I don't like the bullying, do-one-over style of comedy. It's so cheap.

I feel fortunate that I'm not a beauty. I'm not a classic beauty. I feel it is harder for girls who are like that. There are fewer parts.

The first time I did a school play was the first time I felt I was good at anything at all. I just loved it.

Dementia is such a terrifying thing for all of us, and we are particularly bad at coping with old people in this country.

I spent years commuting into London when I was working as a temp, and I hated the monotony of it.

For some reason, people imagine that dramatic things happen to people who don't look beautiful.

I don't have a process; I just feel it. My book on acting would be very short.

To play something which is a big spectrum is so much more fun, so much more of a challenge.